Love is found in the most unlikely of places
by FliscentFiretail
Summary: Kumori finds her life thrown upside down when she suddenly appears in the World of Naruto. With the help of the Hokage, Gai and Kakashi will she be able to survive the ninja world? M for Adult content and future lemons.
1. Chapter 1

**AN:Hey everyone! just trying something new. Please review afterwards. i worked pretty hard on this, and haven't edited it as much as i should. please give me feed back.**

**Disclaimer:i don't own Naruto or... huff. you get the picture. BUT... i do own this awesome all over the place plot! haha! **

**Ch. 1 Down the rabbit hole… well, something like that**

I looked through my luggage for the fifth time to make sure I had everything, sighing as I checked things off. I had Naruto episode 1-23, my computer, the power cord for the computer, head phones, my hair straitener, five pairs of pants, five shirts, ten socks, two pairs of shoes, seven pairs of under wear, seven bras, my toiletries, my cosplay of Hinata and all my money. I would have packed my weapons too, but I didn't think they would let me have them at the upcoming Daishocon. Oh, and I had my violin and every bit of sheet music I owned, because I usually never went anywhere without it other than to work. Man, I hated work. This would be a nice break from that hell hole I had to spend most waking hours at to save up for collage and my Wado ryu lessons. I was currently a fifth degree Black belt in Wado ryu as well as Jeet Kun do. But I still had to pay to practice with sensei. Man, what a drag. And to think I spent more time teaching than him.

"Well, looks like it's time to go," I murmured to my cat who I had in a traveling case. Anbu meowed back at me, expectance written on his whiskery face. Suddenly, he hissed, his lips pulling back in a snarl as his pupils widened and his black fur stood on end. I looked up in alarm to see a cloud of black icy smoke heading straight for me at an alarming speed. I shrieked when it enveloped me, sending me and all my things through a whirlwind of nauseating turns, darkness and cold the only thing I could distinguish. There was a little light that would flash past in the whirlwind and soon I fell through it plummeting toward the ground screaming as I did. In fact, I think I had been screaming since it had sucked me up. I landed hard, too dazed and traumatized to move much as I shook, the world around me a dizzying array. That's why it took me a while to realize there where two identically dressed people crouched and staring at me a couple of feet from where I lay. I yelped and lurched to my feet swaying as I did, still dizzy.

"Who are you people? Where am I? What have you done to me? Where's my cat? Why are you dressed like Guy and Lee from the show Naruto? I just want to go home!" I said as I back away from them, bursting into tears with the last bit of my statement. I was still dizzy and in the middle of the woods with two unknown strangers and I just wanted to go home with my cat. I sank to the ground and continued to ball like a baby as I wrapped my arms around me for comfort and looked around, getting more and more distressed as I did. I was in thick woods with trees that did not grow in my country surrounding me. Did this mean I wasn't even in America anymore? Had I been kidnapped? If I had, then even if I did escape, I would still be in a pickle. I started to hyperventilate as I cried, the two men looking shocked and confused.

"Where on earth did she come from Sensei? Do you think she is an enemy?" Asked the younger one of the two, the one that looked like a living reincarnate of Rock Lee himself.

"I'm not sure about where she's from Lee. As for her being the enemy, I don't think she is. She's starting to go into shock and is very traumatized. I think we should take this stranger to the Hokage." Said the older of the two as he walked over to where I was, the one that looked like Might Guy. I flinched when he gently put a hand on my shoulder. After a moment he spoke, his voice a bit more gentle and subdued compared to his boisterous manner from earlier.

"There there, little lotus blossom, we aren't going to harm you. We only want to help. I give you my word" he said. I hesitantly looked him in the face as I continued to sniffle and tremble. He then gave me the nice guy pose I had seen once in the show, his thumb up in a salute, backing his promise.

"We need to get you to the Hokage of our village, seeing as you are a stranger that needs help. Can you walk?" he questioned. I stared at him blankly for a moment trying to process what he had just said. Did he say Hokage? I couldn't have moved if I had wanted to. Suddenly Lee yelled as my baggage, violin case and cat carrier landed on him.

"Sensei! More has come out of that odd apparition that appeared before!" Lee cried as he raced back to his sensei with my things in tow. Guy took one more look at me before picking my up in his arms.

"Lee, mark that tree up with your kunai as best as you can."He said.

"Yes Guy sensei!" Lee cried before slashing wildly at the tree I had appeared close to when I had first arrived.

"Alright, that's enough Lee. Now grab those things and lets go," Said Guy as he started to fly through the tree tops, Lee following.

"Yes Guy Sensei! And where are we going sir?" Lee said as he ran alongside his teacher.

"To the Hokage. I have a feeling that we should tell him about this as soon as possible."

"Alright Guy sensei."

**Ch. 2 Chakra shm-akra **

"Here you go dear. Drink up," said the third Hokage as he set a tea cup before me. I shakily took me tea and drank deeply, letting the hot liquid burn my throat. I didn't care. It seemed to ease my nerves and I could feel myself relaxing. I sighed and relaxed completely into my chair, before looking at the Hokage with half lidded eyes. Kakashi and Guy as well as several other Jounin lounged around the room, waiting.

"Now my dear, tell us your story. How did you come to be here?" and with that, I launched into my tale, telling him about the black icy cloud, what I had been getting ready to do that day, what anime is, (and how Naruto was an anime I liked to watch), what a cosply is, Daishocon, that I knew wado ryu, jeet kun do, and how to use throwing knives and shiriken. When I was finally finished, I yawned and looked around the room frowning. Every one appeared amazed, and the Hokage looked deep in thought.

"Hmm. I guess we should start looking into forbidden jutsu that have to do with other worlds, if we are going to get you back home." He finally said. I frowned at him.

"I'll admit that I'm surprised. I thought that you would think me crazy…" I murmured before my eyes finally settled on my tea. I blinked in surprise.

"I told you everything, I was relaxed, and I didn't tell you anything other than the truth." I stated as I looked at the tea cup thoughtfully.

"So," I mused as I thought aloud, "There was probably a sedative and a truth solution in the tea that I drank." I then chuckled and head lolled to the side.

"And the fact that I'm talking aloud like this and blabbering so uncharacteristically probably means that the truth solution and sedative are still working. Man, I can't believe I freaked out so much, much less started to cry though. I hate crying in front of people; But then again, I had found out that I'm in another place other than my home country and then another world completely. Meh. I guess it was bound to happen. Hmmm. I wonder if my cat can talk here. I wouldn't be too surprised if he could. Anbu has always been unusually large and intelligent for a cat any way. I wonder where he is." I blabbered. Kakashi then shifted, drawing my attention to him.

"oh my gosh! I can't believe I'm actually getting to meet the people from Naruto!" I cried happily, suddenly leaping to my feet. I then turned back to look at the Hokage.

"Hokage sama, would it be alright if I stayed and made this my new home? Maybe even become one of the ninja from the Leaf?" I asked. He blinked in surprise before chuckling.

"Of course my dear. We will see if we can get that squared away tomorrow. For now, I think it best you rest. Kakashi, why don't you let the little lady stay with you tonight?" the Hokage called to the silver haired Joinin just as he was trying to escape out the window.

"Sorry Hokage sama but-"

"That's an order Kakashi." The Hokage said, interrupting the copy ninja before he could give a lame excuse. Kakashi gave a long suffered sigh before looking at me moodily. "In fact Kakashi, she will be staying with you until we can figure out new living arrangements."

"Fine," he sighed before turning to me, my expression a bit meek. "Where's your luggage?" I blushed, my eyes on the floor, unsure as to the annoyance in the ninja's eyes.

"It's being examined at the moment. They said to Guy that I wouldn't get it back for a few days." I murmured. Kakashi nodded with a sigh.

"Very well. Follow me." With that he zipped out the window, leaping onto a power line before running up to the closest pole.

"Wait! Hey!" I yelled before darting to the window, only to freeze as i took in the dizzying height. He turned back to look at me. I could see a twinkle of mischief and amusement in his eyes at my outrage. "That jack ass." I growled. I heard someone snicker behind me. I felt anger begin to course uncharacteristically strong through me, fueling my actions.

"You think you can pull a rude stunt like that and not expect to get your butt kicked? Well, you're dead wrong buddy," I muttered under my breath as I leaped onto the window ceil before taking a deep breath. I heard a yelp of surprise from Kakashi as I crouched and leaped at the nearest power line. I clenched my teeth together as my foot landed on it I realized that there was a buzzing energy running through me that I had never felt before. I focused on it instantly, using it to make my body be perfectly balanced and I began to walk the best I could, using the force to make me move forward like I had seen Kakashi do. After a second of experimenting, I began to run, exhilaration filling my body along with wonder, my anger now evaporated. In fact I was so caught up with the new feeling of chakra, I had completely forgotten about Kakashi, and the rest of the Joinin who now watched me with surprise. The Hokakge chuckled as he watched me experiment with my newfound chakra. Soon I was giggling, thrilled to pieces that I had figured out to work it so quickly and easily. I turned to give Kakashi a mischievous grin of my own. I then began to slowly walk down the wood pole, before running back up it. Satisfied I had figured out how to relatively control my chakra, I smirked at him.

"Ok. Now I'm ready. Lead away." at that Kakashi actually smiled at me. Well, I think he was smiling. His eye had crinkled shut and for some reason I got the impression that he was mildly pleased with me.

"Alright," he said. "Follow me."

**Ch. 3 Woof woof meooow **

It took us approximately eight minutes of running along roof tops to get to Kakashi's home.

"Make yourself at home," he said, as he took off his flak jacket and dumped it unceremoniously into one of the chairs in the dining room that was right next to the door. I nodded and then he looked around before sighing.

"It's all pretty self-explanatory seeing as this place is so small. This is the dining room. That's the Kitchen." He said, pointing to everything in turn. "That's the living room. There's the bathroom and the bedroom." I nodded, taking in where everything was in the cluttered little apartment. He looked at me for a moment before speaking up.

"Hungry?"

"Umm," I said. Just then my stomach began to growl. He laughed and headed into the kitchen. As pots and pans began to bang around I sat on the couch, not wanting to get in his way. Just then a pack of dogs came racing out of the bedroom, barking happily. I tried to control myself, to keep myself from screaming but then the last one, a gigantic black dog with a spiked collar came out. I shrieked and got up to make for the door as fast as I could, only to find Kakashi instantly by my side, and alert for whatever had alarmed me. The dogs came straight towards me, happily bounding and eager to meet a new person. I tried to run, only to find Kakashi's arm around my waist and holding me in place. After a moment I stopped struggling. I tried to control my fear as the large dogs sniffed me eagerly and bumped into me. I squeezed my eyes shut and clung to Kakashi when the big black one began to sniff my arm. When I felt its breath on the side of my neck I buried my face in Kakashi's face, my body starting to tremble. The memories began to rush past and the tears began. Oh how I feared dogs.

Kakashi P.O.V.

When I had heard her shriek and the dogs bark, I immediately went to her only for her to try and run. I immediately stopped her. If she was afraid of the dogs, then she would just have to get used to them. Bah! I wasn't going to put them outside just because she didn't like them. Her eyes widened and her body went tense as they came forward to sniff her, bumping into her and memorizing her scent. They were so excited, that they hadn't started to speak yet. After a moment Bull, my largest dog came forward to sniff her arm. She grabbed a fist full of my shirt and seemed to be hanging onto it for dear life, her knuckles white, her eyes squeezing shut. My eyebrows rose in surprise. When Bull sniffed the back of her neck to memorize her scent, she buried her face in my chest as she began to tremble. I blinked in surprise and shock. She was terrified; utterly and absolutely terrified of my dogs. I had thought she may have just disliked them. But now I knew it was something different. Even though I couldn't see it, I could feel warm tears begin to soak into my joinin sweater.

The dogs stilled when the scent of her tears filled the air. After a moment they were able to pick up a smell that they hadn't noticed in their glee to see the pretty lady that their master had brought home. The smell was of extreme fear.

"Hey, Kakashi, what's wrong with the girl? Why's she crying? " asked Pakkun. I sighed before picking her up before sitting down on the couch, her in my lap. The dogs leaped up onto the couch to sit with us as well. I couldn't hear a single sniffle or sob, but I knew that she was still crying from fear.

"You know, we aren't going to hurt you lady," said Pakkun as he pawed at her leg. I watched her peak at him in surprise. After a moment she spoke.

"You promise?" she whispered. Pakkun nodded. "Promise. So what's your name? Kakashi hasn't introduced us yet."

"Kumori. And yours?" I then chuckled. It seemed that since they were able to speak, she began to relax a bit.

"Allow me to introduce my Nikken. That's Pakkun, Bull, Urushi, Shiba, Bisuke, Akino, Ūhei, and Guruko." I said, pointing to each in turn. They all nodded their heads when mentioned and she cautiously nodded back in greeting.

"So Kumori, why are you so afraid of us? I know some of us are a bit big, but still, for you to be this afraid of us?" Pakkun asked from his place by her leg.

"I was attacked by a pack of dogs when I was a young child. They nearly killed me." she whispered. "Ever since, I've been deathly afraid of all of them, little or big." At this I couldn't help but feel a bit guilty for not letting her make a break for it. She had had a horrible experience, not a fear of mud and getting fur on her like I had originally thought she might. My dogs shifted uneasily.

"I'm sorry." I suddenly said. "Pakkun and the rest are different thought, because they aren't going to hurt you. In fact, I swear that none of them will ever hurt you, no matter what. Right guys?" I said, addressing my team. They all nodded in agreement. She gave a watery smile back and tentatively reached out a hand.

"May I?" she asked quietly to Pakkun, who was closest. After a moment he nodded his consent. She began to rub his ears and his little doggy chest until he started drooling, his eyes closing in content. The other nikken whined and moved closer, begging for attention. Soon both she and I where rubbing tummies and scratching ears. She began to laugh as they lay sprawled around her on the floor, though there was still caution still in her eyes and in her slow movements. At least she wasn't running away screaming though. Maybe after some time she would get over her fear of dogs.

Kumori P.O.V.

After Kakashi and I had started petting the nikken several minutes later Kakashi stood and headed to the kitchen. A moment later a crash resounded and some muffled curses. He came back wearing his flak jacket and headed toward the window. Jumping onto the ceil, he paused to speak.

"I'll be back in a minute with dinner." I nodded and he left. I continued to pet the dogs before Shiba spoke up.

"So where are you from?" I smiled and began to pet his head.

"You guys would never believe me. In fact, the Hokage wouldn't have either if he hadn't put a sedative and truth serum in my tea." I said as I chuckled. They looked at me in interest now.

"We can smell lies, so don't worry about it. If what you say is true then we'll know and believe you." Stated Urushi. I blinked in surprise, smiling.

"Really?" they all nodded solemnly. I chuckled. "That's pretty cool." They seemed to puff up in pride as I complimented them.

"So what's your story?" Akino questioned. With that I told them everything. By the time I finished my story they where regarding me with newfound interest.

"May I?" asked Pakkun as he lifted a paw to point to my hand. I held it out while he closed his eyes and began to take my scent in deeply. After a moment he sneezed and pulled back.

"At first I thought that you where just an odd smelling girl. Now I know why," he stated with a chuckle. I began to chuckle as well. At that moment Kakashi leapt through the window with a bag of take out.

"Dinners ready." He said with a smile in his eye. I got up off the floor, dusted myself off and followed him into the dining room before going into the kitchen. I froze at the state the kitchen was in before beginning a quest to find some clean plates. I opened a cabinet only shriek as kunai came flying towards me. Before I could deflect them, Kakashi yanked me out of the way, only for them to embed themselves in the floor.

"Guy likes to booby trap my house sometimes if I and the dogs have been gone or out of the house a lot lately." He stated casually as he deflected a couple more kunai and retrieved some plates and chopsticks. He then turned back at me to smile.

"He hasn't done so for a while or I would have warned you. Sorry. My mistake. However, this means that until I get rid of his traps, you need to have one of the dogs or myself with you at all times." I nodded as I sat down across from him at the table.

"Kakashi?" I asked as he began to place the food on our plates.

"Yes Kumori?"

"Do you want me to turn around so that you can eat your meal in peace? This is your home after all, and I know you don't want people to see your face, though I've never heard why." He looked at me thoughtfully for a moment before shaking his head.

"You're the guest. It would be rude of me to ask that of you."

"I'm only a guest because the Hokage ordered you to take me in."I said softly. "A home is one of the few places where one doesn't have to hide, usually, and I understand it's hard for you to have me here. I guess what I'm asking you is what can I do to make this easier for you." Kakashi regarded me carefully for a moment before he answered.

" well," he began carefully, "I don't like to get up early in the mornings. I like to sleep late." I nodded, showing him that he had my undivided attention. "I also like taking long showers and I don't like getting interrupted while I'm reading at home." At this I couldn't help but start to snicker, causing him to stop and look at me, curiosity in his eye.

"You mean _Make Out_ _Paradise_, right?" I said, trying to keep a straight face. "Yes," he stated.

"I've always wanted to see what was in that book anyway," I said more to myself than anything. At this he chuckled and pulled out said book, only to hand it to me. My eyes got huge before I opened it and began to read. About fifteen minutes later I could feel a light blush spreading to my cheeks and a warm longing start up in my lower regions. A couple of minutes later I snapped the book shut and began to eat my food, trying to ignore the desire that had built up in me.

Kakashi P.O.V.

I was quite surprised when she actually accepted the book and started to read. I watched her for a minute before tuning slightly and beginning to eat. By the time I was done and had pulled my mask back up it had been about fifteen minutes and she was still reading, though her face was starting to turn pink. My eyebrows raised themselves. A couple seconds later Pakkun came in, a mischievous glint in his eye.

"Hey kakashi. whats going on in here?" he whisper to me before he took a look at her, and the book, then started to snicker. I raised my eyebrows in surprise. I hadn't expected my book to affect her so strongly, especially if she was already feeling it after so little an amount of time. She didn't seem to hear us, but a minute later, she snapped the book shut, took a shaky breath and began to eat, her face very concentrated on her food. I had to keep myself from laughing at her sexual frustrations.

"Are you alright?" I said, feigning concern. She gave me a withering glace. "You know exactly what's up with me. Either do or don't go there." She said bluntly, getting back to her food. Pakkun and I chuckled. I had to admit, she was an interesting young woman.

**Ch. 4 I'm going to kill him**

Kumori P.O.V.

"What are you used to sleeping on?" Kakashi stated as I finished with my meal.

"Hmm? Oh, a bed." I stated before I caught myself. "But, I think a futon would be better." Kakashi raised an eyebrow before nodded.

"Very well. You'll take the bed."

"But-"

"No buts." I pouted. He chuckled, and then yawned. "About ready to start turning in?" he asked as he gestured toward the other part of the house. I nodded before taking my dished cautiously into the kitchen. After setting them down I followed him to his bedroom. He was busy pulling out a spare futon.

"Sheets are in the closet," he stated and I quickly got them out. After we finished with the sheets he pulled a pillow off his bed and threw on a blanket.

"Alright. Now you just need pajamas." He stated before getting a pair of black sweat pants and a spare shirt.

"Thanks," I said, accepting the clothing before heading to the bathroom to change. A few minutes later I sighed irritability as I examined myself in the mirror. The pants barely stayed on my hips and the shirt was way too big, reaching my mid thigh. Well, he was about five feet eleven inches tall where as I was just five five. Still, it was a bit annoying when I tripped on the pants coming through the door, seeing as i stepped on one of the pant legs. I cursed before getting up, only to trip again when the pants fell around my ankles. I yanked them back on before slipping on them, seeing as his floor was wood and they were so long, they covered the bottoms of my feet.

"This is why I hate pajama pants!" I snapped while yanking them off and throwing them across the room in my rage. I turned to find Kakashi and his dogs snickering quietly at me in the doorway. I pointed an accusing finger at the offending pajama pants.

"They were out to get me! I fell three times, and they refused to stay on!" I said pouting at Kakashi as he continued to laugh at me. After a moment, he sobered up enough to go looking through his sweat pants again. Finally he emerged with another pair in his hands. He then examined the waist before pulling out a kunai and slicing a good six inches off of the bottoms of the legs.

"Here," he said, throwing them at me. "These should fit." I didn't bother with heading to the bathroom seeing as I was standing before him in just a shirt the reached my mid thigh anyway, so without any further ado, I yanked them on.

"They do," I said as I tightened the inner string on the waist, making them the perfect size. "Thanks. Goodnight." I said before I realized that his Futon was in my room. I turned at him to frown before deciding that I could trust him. No need to make an issue out of little things anyway. I didn't really mind. With a shrug I climbed into bed and rolled over on my side.

"Goodnight," He answered before turning off the light and climbing into his futon. After a few minutes the dogs came in, Urushi, Shiba, Bisuke, Akino and Pakkun climbing onto my bed while Kakashi got the rest. After a moment of hesitation, I smiled before snuggling down and getting comfortable, feeling warm and safe as I drifted off into the realm of sleep.

I woke up early that morning to the gentle sound of snoring. I rolled over to find the snoring directly in my ear now. I opened and eye and nearly had a heart attack before I remembered where I was. I sat up and the dogs around me shifted. I looked around and after a minute began to get out of the bed, careful not to wake anyone, especially not Kakashi. He needed to sleep in anyway. What I wanted though, was a shower. I yawned as I reached the bathroom before stripping, tossing my bra and panties under my pajamas. I then turned on the water and adjusted the temperature until it was perfect. Time for a nice long shower.

I was rinsing the last bit of shampoo from my hair when I heard it. I stopped moving for a moment to hear it better. It… it sounded like a metal wire. Next thing I knew I was ducking and the upper part of the shower curtain was cut all the way through as a sharp metal wire sliced it clean through. I flipped out of the way gracefully as kunai when flying into the tub and used the door as a shield for the flying shuriken while holding a towel over the front of my body, seeing as I was now out of the bathroom, feeling deadly angry. Just then Kakashi burst out of his room before stopping in his tracks, the bit of his face I could see quickly turning red around the cheeks. Blushing furiously I made as if to go back into the bathroom only to have another volley of kunai fly at me. Before I could make my move, an arm was around my waist and I was yanked out of the way. I looked behind me to find Kakashi looking up, his face still brilliant red from his blush.

"I'm going to kill Guy next time I see him." I stated calmly before giving Kakashi a slightly embarrassed look. "Could you close your eyes?" he immediately closed them and I wrapped the towel around me. "Ok, you can look now." I said as I hesitantly made my way to my cloths in the bathroom. As I turned to go I hear a metallic whirl. Once again there was an arm yanking me out of the way, but not before a sharp pain seared across my ankle. I gasped at the pain before clamping my mouth shut as Kakashi immediately took me to his room. After shooing a couple of the dogs, he gently set me down to where I was sitting and began to examine my ankle. When I tried to pull it away, he spoke.

"Let me see it. I need to know if there was poison on the wire. Guy has been known to get creative with his traps." After that I didn't object. "Pakkun, I need some bandages. Guruko, I need some water and a bowl. Bull, get the poison treatment kit." with that all the dogs took off in a blink only to be back with said items as Kakashi put pressure on the upper part of my leg to keep the poison from spreading. To my surprise I was starting to sweat and my skin was starting to turn pale. He then opened the kit and put a herb in his mouth that he started to chew before spitting it out and infusing it with chakra. He pressed it into my wound, making me grit my teeth in pain. I then felt his chakra start to flow into me and into the wound as if attacking the poison. I stopped sweating and I could feel life returning to my limbs. After a moment he pulled away, looking a bit tiered.

"It's a temporary antidote. It has only bought us time." He said as he slipped my arms through my bra straps and fastened it on, though he left the towel in place under it. He then put my night shirt on me and slid my feet into the sweat pants before making me stand up and sliding the pants all the way up to my hips. He then fastened the ties at my waist, pulled the towel out from under my shirt, and picked me up. I had gone oddly unresponsive and limp after the antidote though I was still conscious. He leapted out the window and sped across town at a dizzying speed as he took me to the hospital. Halfway there, I felt my eyes begin to shut though I tried to fight it. By the time we had arrived, Kakashi was yelling at me to stay awake and I was starting to close my eyes.

"Kumori! Stay awake or I'll-" I heard before the world around me went black.

**...**

**Duh duh duh! lol, a cliff hanger! thanks for reading. Please Reveiw.**


	2. Chapter 2

AN:Hey everyone! thanks for all the reviews i got in such a short amount of time. :) your feedback is what helps keep my stories alive. Anyway, schools crazy or else i would have updated sooner.

Disclaimer:i don't own Naruto or... huff. you get the picture. BUT... i do own this awesome all over the place plot! ...And Kumori. haha!

Ch. 6

**Perverts and vases**

Kakashi P.O.V.

"You need to apologize to Kumori when you get the chance, Guy." I mutter to Guy as Choiji and the sound ninja began to fight. It was the elimination process of the Chunin exams, and we were on our last fight. It had been the first time I had been able to really talk to Guy after the trap had laid Kumori up in the hospital. I had been so busy with sealing Sasuke's newly formed curse mark and security details; I hadn't even been given a chance to really pound on Guy.

"What are you talking about Kakashi?" he muttered. He seemed stunned after Lee had been so seriously hurt. i knew it wasn't a good time, but if i waited any later, there would be no point. He might as well be prepared for when she woke up, or else he wouldn't know what was going on. Kumori was bound to wake up at any time now.

"Your wire trap in the bathroom nearly killed her. She's never had a poison like that in her system before so she had no resistance or antibodies to it. She's been out for two days so far, today being the third." I stated casually. He turned to look at me, his expression stunned.

"Is she alright? Have they managed to stabilize her?" I nodded. He sighed.

"Good. In that case, I'll visit her today after I see how Lee's doing." I nodded before we watched the fight finish.

Kumori P.O.V.

The first few things I was aware of as I began to regain consciousness once more, was the strong smell of antiseptic, the feel of course sheets and the muffled sound of people moving down the hall. I groaned as I sat up. My mouth felt kind of dry and as my eyes opened, I found myself staring at a white ceiling. After blinking a couple of times I sat up to take in my surroundings. I was in a sterile hospital room lying in a small bed, dressed in course hospital cloths. I looked around and found a bit to my relief that I was alone. I lay back once more and closed my eyes as I thought, my mind working at an alarming speed considering I had just regain consciousness once more. I thought about how I had come to be here, and wondered at my cat's whereabouts. There was no telling how long I had been out and I was a bit worried about my little Anbu. After a couple of minutes I got out of my bed and made my way over to the chair in front of me where some of my cloths sat folded and waiting for me. The Hokage must have had someone send them over once they were finished evaluating my things. A fresh bra sat under my shirt and I couldn't help but sigh with relief at the welcome sight. Making sure the door to my room was shut, I pulled the hospital gown off and let it flow to the ground, leaving me in my under wear. I then unclasped my bra and let it fall as well as a loud person went down the hall. They stopped before my door and it burst open to reveal a very apologetic looking Might Guy, a couple of flowers in his hand. He froze and his jaw dropped as he stared at me in my barely covered state.

"AAAAAEEIIIIIIIIHHHH!" I screamed, covering my breasts with an arm while I grabbed my clothes off the chair, trying to use them to hide my body. He seemed rooted on the spot, his jaw still dropped and his eyes bugging out of his head. I felt furry begin to well up in me when his nose started to bleed.

"YOU PERVERT! GET OUT!" I screamed as I grabbed the vase on the table next to the chair. With that I sent it hurtling at his head. It shattered on contact but he didn't even seem to notice. Because I had thrown it so hard though, I lost my grip on my cloths and once more I found myself revealed. He then fainted, his face a brilliant red, his nose gushing blood and a little smile on his lips. Cursing I kicked the limp form of Guy out of my room before locking the door. Some hospital personnel came down the hall to investigate but I ignored the knocks at my door as I got dressed as quickly as I could. I had barely finished yanking on my shirt when Kakashi appeared in my window.

"Yo."

"Gah!" I cried before scolding him. "Doesn't anyone ever knock around here? Sheesh! The next man that walks in on me without knocking is going to get sucker-punched in the balls!" I yelled my face a brilliant red.

"Something the matter?" Kakashi questioned as he casually leapt off the ledge and into the room, his charcoal grey eye focused on me in his usual lazy manner. I huffed angrily.

"Yeah, I barely finished putting my shirt on and you appear in my window like you've been there the entire time." he raised an eyebrow at my furious tone.

"Okay. And?" he asked. I huffed, turning brilliant red once more.

"Guy just barged into my room while I was changing." I muttered. Kakashi's eye widened.

"And? What happened?"

"I screamed, I grabbed my cloths to cover myself, His nose started bleeding he was still staring, I got angry and broke a vase over his head, he was still staring, I lost my grip on my cloths, and he fainted." I muttered from behind my hands. I looked at from in between my fingers to find him grinning… I think.

"Well, if anything, you must be one heck of a girl for you to make Guy loose his cool like that"

"So, how long have I been in here?" I asked. He shrugged.

"Oh, not long. Just six days. The second and third part of the Chunin exams ended yesterday evening.

"What?" I cried. "Awww! I wanted to see those! What happened! Did Naruto and the team do ok? What about the other Gennin? Is everyone ok? Tell me everything!" I said as I began tugging Kakashi's sleeve, begged him for details. After a moment he sighed.

"Very well. I'll tell you after we've visited the Hokage."

"You promise?"

"Nope." I pouted. He just smiled at me, (I think.) After a moment, his expression became grim.

"I'll be back in a minute. I need to go check on Sasuke." He said before opening the door and stepping over a still unconscious Guy. I took one look at the green beast and shuddered.

"I'll come with you." Kakashi shook his head.

"You'll get to meet the Hokage in due time."

"Don't leave me alone with this guy!" I begged as I pointed an accusing finger at Guy.

"He's put me in shock, nearly killed me with booby traps and seen me naked all in the last six days! I'm not going to stick around and see what else fate will have happen if you don't mind," I said before leaning forward to whisper, "And if I'm with you, I'm more likely to be able to get away from these hospital personnel." Just then, I heard one of them yell at me at the end of the hall way. Kakashi's eye crinkled up in a smile.

"Have fun then," and with that disappeared leaving me jaw dropped and furious with the silver haired joinin.

"KAKASHI!" I roared. The team of hospital personnel that had been running down the hall in hopes of pouncing me skidded to a stop as I turned my furious expression on them. Several swallowed in terror.

"Where is he?" I demanded.

"I-I hear th-that he wa-was going to check on the Uchiha at th-the f-front desk Ma'am." Stuttered one brave soul. I turned my burning gaze on him. "Which room number?"

**Ch. Here kitty kitty**

After about an hour of searching, I scared a hospital doctor into signing my release form and wandered town until I found the hokage's building. To my surprise, I was admitted into his office right away. To my even greater surprise I found an occupied Kakashi busy reading in a chair across from the old man, who was sitting before a crystal ball.

"Ah, Kumori. Nice to see you up and about once more." After I recovered enough I ventured to respond accordingly.

"Nice to see you again sir." I said as I sat down across from the old man, relishing the fact that I once more had cloths that fit me and clean undies.

"I see you got your cloths alright?" he questioned. I smiled and nodded. After a moment of hesitation, I finally asked him the question that had been burning in me the moment I had walked in the room.

"Sir?" I asked as I fidgeted nervously.

"Yes my dear?"

"Where my cat, Anbu?" the Hokage sighed sadly and I felt my heart leap into my throat in horror.

"What happened? Is he alright? Where is he?" I cried when he didn't answer immediately. I would have risen to my feet if Kakashi hadn't placed a calm but firm hand on my shoulder.

"Well, when you had said that you wouldn't be surprised if you cat could talk in this world, the medic and vet ninjas decided to look him over as well. It turned out that as time progressed; more specifically three days, he grew more than three times his size, gained the ability to speak and a white ANBU tattoo began to appear on his forehead." I stared at the Hokage in shock, my jaw dropped as I stared at him with eyes the size of plates. He chuckled before continuing.

"He escaped our care yesterday when he was told he wasn't to see you yet and has been missing ever since." The Hokage stated calmly as he folded his hands carefully on the desk Ok, so Anbu was huge now and a bit different looking but he was still my baby. I sighed in relief feeling a bit awed, but happy. So he was ok.

"Wow. I can't believe it. Thank goodness though. I was worried that something had happened to him," I murmured.

"Now, " said the Hokage as he sorted some papers. "You had mentioned that you wanted to become a ninja of the Hidden Leaf, yes?" I nodded. "Hmm. Very well. Seeing as how quickly you seemed to pick up chakra control and the fact that you are already an expert in taijutsu, I think sending you to the ninja academy would be a waste. Instead, I think I will assign you to a three man squad to learn from a ninjutsu master." The Hokage then chuckled. "You will be assigned to Kakashi's team, team seven. However, before we continue, I think we should test you, just to make sure that this is the right call." I nodded.

"Very well sir. But I…" I couldn't help but blush.

"Yes? What is it my dear?" After a second of nibbling my bottom lip I spoke.

"Is it at all possible, that I find my cat first, while the test is being set up? If he saw me fighting Kakashi he might get the wrong idea and attack, and I don't think I'll be able to focus properly until I know he's alright. I know that its not my place to ask and its silly, but I would be eternally grateful if you could let me go look for him very briefly. It should only take me a few minutes I think." At this the Hokage's eye brows rose. After a moment's thought he nodded.

"Very well then my dear. Kakashi, bring her to the practice field once she is done." The Hokage said as he stood. I could feel a gigantic grin break out across my face.

"Thank you Lord Hokage!" I cried before leaping out the window. I then began to race to the top of the Hokage monument. I slipped a couple of times but was able to catch myself using chakra from my hands to grab a hold of the sheer mountainside. After a couple of minutes I had reached the top feeling a bit winded but thrilled that I had once again showed a bit of master over chakra control. I tested the air to see which direction the wind was going before I focused some chakra on my throat and lug area. I took a gigantic breath before bellowing with all my might, hoping that he would hear me.

"HERE ANBU! HERE KITTY! ANBU! WHERE ARE YOU? HERE KITTY KITTY KITTY! ANBUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU! AAAAAANBUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" As I yelled the ground around me vibrated with the force of the noise waves I was making. I paused for a moment before there was a roar far off in the distance. I jumped in glee before answering.

"I'M ON THE HOKAGE MOUNTAIN! HERE KITTY! OVER HERE ANBU!" I cried, feeling unusually relieved. After a minute I heard a roar from the base of the mountain. I squealed and hung off the First hokage's nose to look down below. At the base was my now gigantic feline looking as sleek and as deadly as ever.

"Anbu!" I cried, leaping from rock to rock as I quickly made my way down. I heard a returned cry of relief as he raced to the top of the Hokage building. When we were both on the top of the Hokage tower, I tackled him in a hug and cried silent tears of joy to be reunited with my precious baby once more. Well, he was the size of a horse now and had a large white anbu symbol in the center of his sleek black head, but he was still my baby.

"I'm glad to see that you are well," he said after a moment. It almost looked as if he was holding his breath to see my reaction. I just squealed and pounced him in another hug before I began to tickle him. He roared with laughter as he flailed around, and soon I heard someone else chuckle. I looked over to see Kakashi watching us, along with several masked shinobi.

"Hey Kakashi! I want you to meet my baby, Anbu." I said as Anbu and I walked over. Kakashi looked like he was going to start laughing again and the guys in the masks seemed to twitch simultaneously. The masked men then left without a word.

"What was their problem?" Anbu muttered as he sat down and began to clean a paw.

"Well, they are part of an organization called the ANBU black ops. When Kumori started yelling "Anbu, here kitty," they thought that she was either trying to insult them, the protectors of the village, or was trying to get their attention. I smoothed everything over before they could… question her." Kakashi stated to my gigantic cat.

"Hmm. Thanks for that. I'm Anbu by the way."

"Nice to meet you. Kakashi Hatake." At this Anbu blinked his smaller gold eyes before he chuckled, nodding his head at Kakashi in greeting. He then turned to look at me with mischief in his eyes. I felt my cheeks and ears turn brilliant red.

"Is this _The_ Kakashi Hatake?" I blushed even harder, refusing to answer. Oh lords help me. Please, no! I really hoped that a cat's memory wasn't too long or else he had some pretty serious black mail he could use on me or give to Kakashi.

"If you tell him, I will never forgive you." I snapped before marching off indignant with embarrassment of the highest form. Ok! So I had a habit of reading lemons aloud and I happened to talk to my cat all the time. About everything, including hot guys, Kakashi being one of them. I heard Anbu laughing as he caught up with me.

"Tell me what?" Kakashi questioned. Anbu just continued to chuckle before he picked me up with his tail and setting me on his back.

"Nothing!" I snapped. Anbu just winked at me and we took off toward the training ground.

**Ch. Na na na boo boo**

About eight minutes later I found myself standing on the training field standing across from Kakashi, who was calmly reading his book, not even looking at me. The Hokage had originally intended for Guy to be my opponent since he was a taijutsu master as well, but when he fainted at the sight of me, it had been decided that Kakashi should take his place, seeing as Lee was in the hospital and Kurinai, as well as most of the jounin were already busy elsewhere. The Hokage and Anbu, as well as some unknown stragglers now watched from their places at the field side as Kakashi calmly tied two bells to his waist and then set up a timer.

"Get a bell or be sent to the academy." He stated before getting back to his book.

"Very well then." I acknowledged calmly.

"Ready… Go," he called. I took off into the trees to hide myself. Once I had hidden quite well but to where I could see him, I closed my eyes and began to play with my chakra, getting a feel for it. I practiced focusing it in my fingers, fists, feet, knees, elbows and the very back of my neck, all at different times practicing how to control the strength of it, the strength and the size. I had about three hours after all. Best to not go charging in recklessly. As I practiced I began coming up with game plans. This was a jouinin ninja. His strengths where my weaknesses and he knew taijutsu as well, putting me at a large disadvantage. He was also more experienced in a real fight and could deflect shuriken as well as kunai. I could deflect them as well, but I wasn't as good as him. If anything I had to get his weapons away from him. It would be hard enough to fight him if he used ninjutsu. I frowned as I hung upside down from the limb of a tree, careful to stay out of his line of sight. It was almost freaky how easily the control of chakra was to me. Almost as if I was made to handle it. I closed my eyes, trying to feel the chakra around me. I had an hour left after all. After a couple minutes I was able to pick apart the feel of different chackras and was finally able to pick up Kakashi's. If I did this right, then I could get a bell, simply by using the element of surprise. After all, since he was so experienced and he barely knew me, it was more likely than not that he would immediately underestimate me, a fatal move if I had been aiming to kill. If not, I would have to do this the hard way. After about a couple more minutes, Kakashi sighed in a bored manner. Anbu looked like he was settling down for a nap and the stragglers looked pretty sleepy themselves. Looked like it was time to make a move. I pushed chakra wildly into my legs and arms as well as my torso, adjusted the strength, and took off strait at Kakashi with chakra enhanced speed. Whoosh! My eyes picked up the slight movement of his left leg and I redirected my path, smacking a kunai out of his hand as he tried to dodge me before grabbing his kunai pouch and placing in on my belt as he tried to kick me in the back of the neck. Smack! I blocked him by pushing chakra into the back of my kneck, using it was a shield before I grabbed the leg he had tried to kick me with and threw him across the field, yanking his shuriken holster off his leg as I did. He appeared to be shocked. As he began to right himself in mid air, I came forward, lightning quick with a sharp hollow slap to his left ear, his one side with the blind spot. WHAM! He smacked me pretty hard in the ribs with a kick I had been to slow to block completely, sending me flying. I righted myself in midair and kicked off a thick tree, splitting it in two as I launched myself at him using chakra to fuel my speed, hoping to get another move in before he could right himself completely. My slap over his ear had been extremely hard and it had been to throw his equilibrium off, (seeing as it was connected to his inner ear,) as well as buy me a couple of seconds. I threw one of his paper bombed kunai with chakra speed at him that he managed to dodge. As intended, his reaction time was a couple of seconds slow and the kunai barely missed him. What he failed to notice was that it severed the strings that connected the bells to his waist. And as I had planned, BOOM! The small paper bomb went off right then at that moment sending Kakashi flying one way, the bells flying the other. I kicked off another tree as I took off after them with deadly speed and was about to catch them in midair when I felt something coming toward me. I ducked just in time to see Kakashi's kick go sailing over my head. His hand was about to close over the bells. Without thinking, I threw a tendril of chakra at the bells. I wrapped one in it just as he closed his hand and yanked as hard as I could. I watched as in almost slow motion the bell slipped out of his grip and flew into my palm. We landed securely on the ground. For a moment we both just stared at it. Then I launched myself at him squealing in delight as I threw my arms around him.

"YAY! You're my new Sensei! I'm on team seven! Yahoo! Hokage-sama! I did it! Can you believe it? I'm a ninja now! A ninja, Ninja!" I then stopped before looking at the fairly emberrased Kakashi, and an amused Anbu and Hokage before I gave an embarrassed laugh at my reaction and let Kakashi go. But I couldn't wipe the crazy grin off my face. It was physically impossible. The stragglers where whooping and cheering, giving me starry eyed looks.

"Very good my dear," the Hokage said as we came toward him, Anbu chuckling as he licked a paw.

About fifteen minutes later I was smiling like an idiot and a newly registered ninja of the leaf. I was still admiring my new forehead protector as Kakashi and I walked home. Anbu had said that he was going to go hunting for some dinner. After I had made sure he wouldn't go after live stock, because he was so friggin huge now, he departed, promising to "come see me" tomorrow. As I thought, something hit me. The Hokage had given me a bag of coins for living expenses but had told me I would still be staying with Kakashi indefinitely but at least for six months. So that meant…

"Hey, Kakashi."

"Yes Kumori?"

"Where do I go to get Ninja cloths?" at this he stopped walking to turn and look at me in surprise.

"Well? There's no way I could wear this on a mission." I said as I gestured at my clothing, which consisted of a pair of jeans and an old tee and sneakers. He seemed to be thinking as he continued walking, this time another direction. After a moment he spoke.

"I'm not sure where women ninja get their cloths but I get mine here." He said as he gestured toward a shop. I nodded.

"Do you think we could stop in here for a minute?" I asked. He shrugged before walking in, getting out Icha Icha paradise and sitting in a chair by the door.

"Thanks," I murmured.

It turned out that the store we had gone to also carried woman's clothing as well. As I went through the things they had to offer, I found a kunai pouch, a shuriken holster, and exploding tags. As soon as I was also stocked up on shuriken and kunai, I got white wrappings. I then found exactly what I was looking for as far as clothing went. I found a black sleeveless dress that went three inches past my knees that had slits up the sides that reached my hips. It was a slim zip up, and absolutely perfect with a light blue trim. I then found lots of fishnets, long black ninja gloves that went all the way to the tops of my arms and long black ninja shoes that went to past my knees about four inches. With everything I needed paid for, I quickly went to the front of the store, practically beaming as I skipped up to Kakashi. He looked up from his book and the eyebrow went up at the bags I carried with me.

"Ready?" he asked as he tucked his precious book back into his vest pocket and took my bags surprising me momentarily. I nodded happily and we began our journey back to his home, him carrying the bags.

**AN: Hehe, so what did you think? what was your favorite part of the entire chapter? if you have more than one, list away! Is Kakashi to OOC? what do you think of Kumori? how does she come across to you? (too girly? too guyish? Too talented? Etc.) hehe, the sooner i get my reviews, the faster i'll work on future chapters and hot steamy-ness! i promise. :) Oh, and do you guys want lots of hot love scenes with wild sex or a deep romantic relationship? just keep in mind that the "Deep romance" and fluff will take me longer to write. How much longer, i'm not sure. ok! vote away my peeps! Mwahahahaa! And don't forget to review! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

AN:Hey everyone! Hope you all like it. Please review afterwards.

Disclaimer:i don't own Naruto or... huff. you get the picture. BUT... i do own this awesome all over the place plot! haha!

Ch. 3 **the sharingan and the violin**

I put my wild shoulder length hair into a pony tail as I observed myself in the mirror for the first time in days. Well, ever since I had arrived, which had been six days so far. A girl with wildly curly dark brown hair and brownish-gold eyes stared back. Her face was slim if not a tiny bit square with coral lips and a defined nose. Her eyes where framed by thick black lashes and where slightly slanted, though not as much as everyone else's. I was pretty slim, had nice medium-sized bordering-on-large breast and stood a good five feet, five inches tall with curvy hips. The dress I wore fit me as rather well, like everything I had bought. I had put the wrappings over my shoulders, as well as arms, and had also made a pair of pants from them. I had then pulled on the black gloves and my shoes, before putting on my kunai holster, and my shuriken holster. At last I pulled on the dress, feeling highly please. I then frowned at the mirror for a moment before I realized what had been bugging me. My hair had only been as long as my chin, much curlier, and my eyes had been originally a deep brown when I had first arrived here. I sighed. It looked like Anbu wasn't the only one changing.

"So do I look like a ninja now?" I demanded as I walked into the kitchen. Kakashi turned in surprise, looking up from the stir fry he had been cooking on the stove. He nodded.

"Very much so. You look nice though." I beamed at his compliment before coming over to help him.

"So did you get rid of all the traps?" I asked conversationally as I began to cut up some more shitaki mushrooms. He shrugged.

"After Guy found out what had happened, he came over immediately and got them all out." I nodded in content as I put the mushrooms in the rice and he began to stir them into the mixture. After a couple more stirs he took the pot off the stove and I got out bowls and chopsticks. He then served us our portions and we went to the table to eat. After a minute of silence an idea came to mind. Kakashi had been grouchy about me being assigned to live with him and all which was odd… I had been assighned to his team… and the people assighned to him, he usually had to look after them as a mission… and he had the sharingan. My throat tightened in sadness. Was that the only reason he was… being nice? I hoped not. I hoped to prove my theory wrong. Well, time to start testing the waters I was in with him.

"Oh, Kakashi?"

"Hmm?" he said, his back turned to me, though it was obvious the he was eating. I couldn't help but crack a smile.

"Do you mind if I play my violin after we're done eating? I'll understand if you don't want me to." He then pulled his mask back up and turned to look at me. I frowned at the look in his eye. He looked… either confused or angry. I wasn't quite sure.

"…and what is a violin?" he finally asked. My eyes bugged and my jaw dropped before I could muster my voice once more.

"You mean you don't know what a violin is?" I whispered in shock. He shook his head. I gave a long suffered sigh before going to our room and getting my violin case. I then brought it to the table. Kakashi got up to watch curiously as I opened the case and got my violin out. I put the shoulder rest on the violin and tightened the bow and placed the violin on my shoulder. I then ran the bow across the strings to check the tone. Finding my "d" string a bit off, I got my pitching pipe out and blew gently on the note "d." Kakashi seemed to be fascinated as he watched. After my violin was tuned once more, I held it out for him to see.

"This is called a violin. It is an instrument. Ummm, It has four strings, G,D,A and E. When I say these letters, I am referring to the musical alphabet, which only consists of eight letters; A,B,C,D,E,F,and G." I blabbed nervously. He just nodded, still looking fascinated, his eye studying it with interest.

"Ummm. I could keep going on with the details for a long time, but I'm guessing you want to know what it sounds like. Right?" Kakashi shrugged. I blushed before propping it up on my shoulder. I took a big breath and began to play the sweet soft melody of parchbel cannon. Once I had finished, I looked up from the spot on the wall I had been staring at only to jump when I saw his face. He had pulled his forehead protector off his other eye and I found myself face to face with the sharingan for the first time.

"oooooo," I murmured, gently setting down the violin before turning to examine his eye. He made to pull his forehead protector back down but I quickly smacked his hand away, knowing that he was letting me smack him. (He was a jouinin after all and could have easily avoided my hand.) In essence he was giving me permission by not moving away. I then took his face very carefully and gently into my hands before standing on tippy toe to get a better look at the sharingan. He leaned down a bit to accommodate me as I turned his head slightly to get a better view with the lighting. I then stroked the scar over his eye and his eye fluttered shut.

"How far does it go? The scar?" I asked. He shrugged.

"About an inch longer below the mask and an inch or two above the forehead protector."

"Hmm. so how come you've got the sharingan in one eye? I thought it was a Kehie genkai of the Uchiha clan." I murmured. He pulled back carefully.

"It's a long story," he said cheerfully as he went to the other side of the table. "If I told it, I wouldn't get to listen to you play that odd lovely music of yours, so we'll save it for another night, alright?" I pursed my lips. He sounded a bit too cheerful. As if he was faking it. Finally I shrugged.

"All right then. Another time." With that I put my violin to the side and finished my meal. Once I had finished and had cleaned my hands I pulled out my instrument and began to play once more. Kakashi listened to me quietly, occasionally asking me questions in between songs. Every now and then he would pull out the sharingan as he watched. After about thirty minutes I stopped playing and went began to get ready for bed.

**Bedtime and Pestering the Girl **

"Whats that?"

A hair straitener."

"What does it do?"

"It straitens hair."

"Why would you want to do that?" I could feel my patience ebbing and I shot him a slightly frustrated look. There was a gleam of mischief in his eyes. It looked like he was trying to pester me on purpose.

"Because there are times when I want to straighten my hair.

"Why?" I sighed deeply before answering.

"There are times when I need a break from this mop of a thing I call my hair and straitening it gives me a day off." He looked like he was about to ask me what I meant but I spoke before me could.

"If you're going to ask me anything more about the hair straitner, ask me when I'm using it, ok? That way I can show you how to use it and everything and give you a more detailed answer." After a moment he shrugged before setting it down to where I had originally placed it in the bath room. He then began poking at my makeup. I quickly finished brushing my teeth and made for the bedroom as quickly as I could without actually running, hoping to avoid more questions. I was kind of tired and not in the mood. But apparently Kakashi was in the mood to bother me, for when I stepped into my room, he was sitting cross legged on the bed with a handful of my more unusual make ups in his hand. His eyes where sparkling subtly with tomfoolery.

"I understand that these are a form of cosmetic or make up, seeing as our women have this as well, but theirs looks very different, and I was wondering why they looked so unusual, like this brush." He stated, holding out my mascara brush. He then tried to act all casual as he made as if to bend to brush. I sighed tiredly taking the brush from him before he could destroy it. "I was also wondering if they served the same functions."

"Alright, but this is the last question for the evening" at this he seemed to raise an eyebrow over his lazy eyes. He had abandoned his forehead protector when he had first begun examining my things in the bathroom.

"Alright. This is something called mascara. It's put on eye lashes to make them look thicker." He frowned. I decided to continue before he could prompt me any further.

"Women in my world have found over time that thicker, darker eyelashes seem to attract men better than thin lashes. Woman use this commonly from ages thirteen and up, trying to make themselves look prettier." He then quirked an eyebrow as he thought.

"Does it work?" he finally asked in his usual languid tone. I sighed.

"You tell me," I said, before going to the bath room with a curious Kakashi trailing after me. He watched me apply the mascara before I turned to give him an alluring look as I bat my eye lashes at him.

"Do I look ok?" I purred before breaking out in laughter. He cracked a light eye-smile at my silliness. I then did my best to get the mascara off.

"Ugh," I grumbled as I fought with the makeup. "I think this one is water proof." After a moment more of struggling, Kakashi took the wet cloth from me and began to gently remove it from my eyes and lashes.

"Thanks," I murmured. He nodded. He then began to pester me again. And again. Instead of answering I smiled evilly as a plan suddenly came to mind. Kakashi paused for a moment to take in my evil zoned out expression before he continued his cleaning.

**Erotica and eye liner**

I woke a little before dawn, careful not to move the dogs as they shifted and snored around me. Making sure I had my favorite liquid eyeliner on me, I wiggled silently out of bed and alighted silently on the floor. I then make my way carefully over to where Kakashi was sleeping. Bull cracked open an eye and I placed my forefinger to my lips, giving him a wink before whispering so low that I couldn't even hear, my plan to Bull. The big black dog then nodded and closed his eyes, going back to sleep. I then went to work.

Kakashi P.O.V.

Earlier that day I had gotten an official mission scroll from the Hokage regarding my house guest, like I knew I would when he had said she would be staying with me. I was to find out the working and mechanisms of her electronic devices, cosmetics, and figure out what that odd wood thing in the case was, as well as all the information I could about her world. At first I thought I might have to be crafty about it, seeing as there was a possibility she was a ninja, because of how quickly she picked up on things she supposedly "didn't even have in her world." But to my relief she brought up some of the topics I wanted to learn about, on her own and answered a lot of my question. That is until she started to get irritated with me pestering her. She had gotten an evil look in her eyes when I began to ask her more questions after she told me "no more." A very evil look indeed. Truth be told, they where questions I would have never asked if left up to my own devices, seeing as I was a more antisocial person, but for whatever reason, the Hokage had felt that I, a porn reading hermit that disliked company, much less at my own home, would be best for this mission. I wished he hadn't given the mission to me though. I just wanted to get back to my book, not babysit some girl. Well, scratch that. She was a woman. The mission itself was indefinite, but the orders where clear. Guard her. Learn from her. Teach her. Feed her. Keep her safe. Little did I know that she had been planning to make all of the above very difficult for me.

**Next morning **

"KUMORI!" I roared as I faced myself in the mirror. Well, I wasn't actually roaring, just speaking a bit loader than usual, though I wasn't too happy with what I saw. The evil look from last night was now explained as I examined myself in the mirror. It looked like she had used my face and mask as a doodle board, though I couldn't help but feel a bit amazed at the fact she hadn't woken me. I had a gotee done in black over my mask and an odd swirly mustache as well as a pair of fangs where my mouth was. I sighed irritably. She had also drawn a pair of circular glasses on me and a sharingan on my right masked cheek. On my left cheek, she had written, "I 3 erotica." Further down the hall I heard a squeak. Oh, she was going to pay for this, I thought before I reeled in my temper, remembering my mission, (the protect her part that is. That doesn't include trying to strangle her.) With a deep breath I got rid of the face paint, put on a fresh mask and went down the hall.

Kumori P.O.V.

"Kumori!" Kakashi growled down the hall way. I couldn't help but squeak in distress. I thought he was going to sleep in? In fact, I had been banking on it. My initial plan had been to complete the operation, and meet his students, and that way he would burn off time and hopefully irritation by the time he found me out. With a bit of luck and the kids there, he would wait to the end of the day to exact his revenge. But now I was faced with a deadly looking Kakashi that was stalking silently down the hallway, his body tense as if getting ready to pounce. After a moment I realized that he didn't have a shirt before I realized that he hadn't slept in one last night nor the night before. Ah shit I wasn't even completely dress yet and only had my dress and shorts/wrappings on. No shoes, no gloves, no gear. I couldn't flee successfully without making a fool of myself. I then thought about it for a second before going back to drying my now longer hair.

"Good morning Kakashi," I said calmly as I continued my drying. He just came to stand behind me, staring at me in the mirror as I continued my task, his eyes dark, and what I could see of his face, very unhappy. I blushed and kept my eyes down as I continued my task. It appeared he had changed masks and had removed the drawn on glasses, removing any evidence of my vandalism to his face. Now that I thought about it, it was a dumb idea and I was regretting it almost immediately.

"I'm surprised you didn't wake me up," he finally stated before walking out of the bathroom and into the kitchen. I sighed softly bowing my head in regret before hanging up my towel and following him into the kitchen. So I had been right with my hypothesis.

"You're putting up with me because it's your mission, right?" I suddenly said. Kakashi's movements stilled as he set down the tea pot, his back to me. "You're supposed to gather information from me. Any and everything you can, right?" I asked my tone glum. He then turned to face me nonchalantly walking to the table with tea and a bowl of rice for me.

"And what makes you say that?" he asked in his lazy manner as he sat across from me. I laid my chin on the table, staring at the wood moodily.

"Well, you've been stuck to my side like glue since the Hokage said I "would be living with you." You seemed a bit irritated about it, so I figured it was more than me just living with you, seeing as you're a pervert and all. What guy, much less a hentai junkie like yourself would be annoyed by having a woman live with you, unless they are super bitchy or sadistic?" I muttered. "Not only that but you've been asking me a lot of questions, personal and otherwise, when I know you would rather be reading Make Out Paradise. The way you ask them is also very awkward at times, as if you're not used to asking people these things. You also didn't attack me or try to choke me when you woke up this morning, which means you must have been ordered to protect me. Anyone else would have." With that I sighed sadly, feeling a bit depressed.

"So let's cut to the chase; I know you don't want to waste any more time than necessary on me so what where you asked to find out about other than the violin, and weird electronic things I have? If you want, I'll teach you how to use them. I know that that must be the reason they asked you to be the one to look after me. With your sharingan, you can copy about anything I do, and in essence, use anything you've seen me use." Kakashi was silent.

Kakashi P.O.V.

I felt a wave of surprise and shock run through me as she finished her statement. Shit, she must me a friggin genius. She had picked up on everything that was going on. That alone astounded me. I had been so careful, making sure to be casual and playful, in an attempt to hide my mission. I was a highly trained ninja and could mask my intent and emotions better than most. I had a feeling that my nonchalant attitude would have worked on anyone else but her. So she was highly perceptive and could easily see through deceptions, even if she didn't know the person very well. Interesting. She wasn't trying to hide the fact that she knew about my mission though. If anything, she was being very forward and honest about it. What slightly perplexed me was that instead of being wary or acting as if I betrayed her, she looked resigned and mildly depressed. And she was offering the information freely and without strings. I thought for a moment as she continued to stare glumly at the table, the light I had seen earlier long gone from her eyes. I sighed. In that case she was probably hoping that I had wanted to get to know her through genuine curiosity, not orders as a mission.

"Well, you caught me," I said as I smiled at her, holding my hands up in defeat. She looked up at me, her face unwavering from her expression of glumness.

"That's not the only part of my mission though," I stated. She seemed to blink in surprise, her eyes showing her curiosity. The fact that I was talking to her about my mission seemed to intrigue her.

"My complete mission is also to feed you, house you, and protect you, all while teaching you ninjutsu and genjutsu." I said before smiling. She seemed to frown as I spoke.

"your telling me about a mission concerning me?" she questioned as if not understand why that was part of my mission. I nodded.

"yup." I said as I smiled slightly, "Which is why this evening we are going to do whatever you want to do." I regretted it almost the instant the words were out of my mouth but after a moment she spoke, her tone shy.

"That makes no sense." I nodded wisely. "Which is exactly my point." She smiled and rolled her eyes at me.

"You really mean it? Anything I want?" I nodded. She then got an impish look I her eyes. I tried now to swallow in nervousness.

"Very well then," she said with a fake lofty air. "I suppose if we must, let's go to a club this evening. " My eyes bugged at her statement.

"We'll have to dress accordingly though, so I suggest we head to your closet and find you something suitable to wear for tonight." She said jumping to her feet, a look of determination I didn't really care for burning in her eyes. She took my hand and began pulling me to my closet. At first I was going to object when I caught a flash of emotion behind the determination. It was sadness and resignation. I sighed heavily and let her lead me.

**Oooooo, Aaaaaaah .**

I fidgeted as I tried not to run for it. It was evening once more, and she had spent the day letting me read, going out to spend some time with her giant cat, Anbu. I sighed, knowing that she would be back soon. Just then the front door opened and she burst in, looking like she had had the time of her life, her hair wild and her eyes glistening with glee.

"Hey Kakashi!" she said as she ran over to where I was on the couch and proceeded to glomp me. Surprised by her closeness and the fact that she had just tackle/hugged me, I stiffened and stared at her. She just laughed, jumped to her feet and went to the bathroom. I heard the shower turn on before I sighed and went back to my book. Women never ceased to amaze and mystify me. About five minutes later the shower cut off and she came out in a towel, heading for my room. I blushed slightly before returning to my book. The door shut and a couple of minutes later she emerged wearing a sleeveless golden sequin shirt that fit her like a glove that went to her upper thigh that was slit up the sides to her hips. She was wearing black tights under it as her pants and she had closed toed slip-on's that where sequined tiger print. I blinked in surprise at how glamorous she appeared before I realized she was heading towards me.

"You asked me how my cosmetics and hair straitener works, so that's why I said we should go to a club," she said as she pulled me off the couch and led me into the rest room. She then proceeded to explain how a hair straitener worked before she began to turn her damp wild curls into sleek locks. I couldn't help but marvel at the difference and she laughed when I started to play with her newly striated locks. After a minute she shooed me away and finished straitening her hair. She then explained all her more odd cosmetics and showed me how the process worked with each of them, what they were for and such. Soon I found out exactly what she had been talking about when she finished her makeup. It seemed women of her world where experts on making themselves unusually captivating and enchanting, though I couldn't help but prefer her without make up. This was lovely, that was for sure, but the natural look seemed more… well, natural for her. It did catch my eye as she has said it would though. Once she was done she turned to frown at me. I frowned back after a moment. She turned and marched out of the bathroom calling over her shoulder as she went.

"Alright, go ahead and get a shower. I'll go and get your cloths ready." I sighed and shut the door before turning the shower on. Looked like it was my turn.

...

AN: Mwahahahaha! which club will Kakashi take our daring heroin to? will they still be able to become close with his mission blocking their way? And what will Kumori be doing while Kakashi and Sasuke are off training for the last of the chunin exams? hehehe, gotta do this cliff hanger thing more often. :) please click this button.

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	4. Chapter 4

I couldn't help but smile a little when I heard the shower turn on. For whatever reason, Kakashi was keeping his word about taking me anywhere I wanted this evening. Well, he had so far. And he had told me about his all about mission; even showed me the scroll that had been sent to him, which I had to admit, threw me a bit at first. I had been expecting him to try and lie about it, flatter me, or change the subject, not admit it full out. It was the last thing I expected him to do, and it was a bold move, considering how I could have acted from hearing it out of his own mouth. But it was truthful and forward, making me respect him to an extent. As for this evening, I believe it was more of an offering of peace, than anything. It was almost like an apology and an "I-truly-want-to-get-to-know-you" thing I guess; (An educated guess but a guess none the less.) After a moment I snapped out of my musing and continued my task at hand.

As I finished laying out his cloths, I heard the shower turn off. I quickly moved to leave his bed room so that he could change and opened the door only to gasp when I ran into a hard wall of flesh, bouncing off it before a pair of large feverish hands caught and steadied me.

"Oops, sorry. I got you wet." He murmured as he steadied me. My eyes widened and I swallowed in nervousness as my mind when blank and my cheeks flared with heat. Sure I had seen him shirtless before but it was nothing compared to this. I was so close I could actually smell his scent and feel the heat coming off his body as stray droplets of water traveled their way down his muscular torso to be absorbed by the towel that encircled his waist. From where his hand lay on my arm and hip I could feel sparks of electricity begin to run through me that was making my stomach do flips. Oh gosh, his hair was so sexy when it was wet, and his mask was clinging to his face due to the moisture, making the shape of his lips visible enough that I wanted to kiss him. Yes, Kakashi, you are starting to make me very very wet I thought in a dazed fashion as I made a run for it, calling an apology over my shoulder as I quickly made my get away and moved down the hall. What the hell was wrong with me?

Kakashi P.O.V.

As I put the shampoo in my hair and began to lather, I couldn't help but think back on Kumori and I's earlier conversation.

_**Flashback**_

"_This is the what?"_

"_My mission scroll that I received from the hokage concerning you." She frowned at me as she thought for a moment. _

"_And you are showing me this why?" she asked quietly as she looked at the ground, her brow still furrowed. I decided to state a part of the truth._

"_Well, you already figured out my mission and to lie about it would only anger you so…" I shrugged. She frowned even further and sank to where she was sitting on the edge of the bed. What she did next threw me a bit though. She shaped her hands to where they where two fists, with her knuckles pressed together, the side resting against her abdomen and shut her eyes. She was absolutely still, barely moving an inch, for the next six minutes. She then opened her eye to give me a cheeky grin, making me even more curious than before._

"_I think I get it now." she stated before continuing. "Though there is one thing I don't entirely understand, and if it has been bugging me, it must be bugging you. You however, may have already come to a solution about it." _

"_Go on," I prompted her, slightly interested. _

"_The rate at which I picked up on chakra control was much too high, especially if I don't have it in my world. I'm curious as to why that is, and I also wonder why you are disclosing so much information to me. The speed at which I have master chakra control suggest that, even though I was under a truth serum and have told you otherwise, I could have been lying when I said I wasn't a ninja. I have read in the Naruto manga that chakra control is something that takes years to master. I'm puzzled, seeing as you must have thought of this, that you are being so trusting. Why is it that you trust me? At least to this extent." I chuckled when she finished. She was smart, I'll give her that. But she was forgetting something very crucial._

"_Firstly regarding your chakra mastery; the more chakra one has, the harder it is to control it. Two; you have as much chakra as my student Sakura Haruno. And thirdly; who says you didn't have chakra you had to control while you were in your world? Just because it wasn't as flashy or the effects not as tangible, doesn't mean it wasn't there in another form. I'm sure that since you where into taijutsu, you probably had to learn at least a bit of how to control the flow of you body's energies; like keeping yourself from getting too excited and going crazy on your opponent because of the adrenaline, etc."_

"_As for me trusting you; yes your right. I have thought long and hard over the speed at which you learned chakra control and to be sure, I had some medical ninja's take a look at your chakra paths. It turns out that it was good we took you to the hospital when we did or else the doctors wouldn't have been able to put you into the deep sleep that let you recover from the strains on your chakra networks. Apparently the effects of our previous fight hadn't taken its toll on you yet. The strain on your networks proves that you have no development in your chakra networks. All ninja have development in these networks, and since you had none, I have decided to believe your story." She nodded, looking pleased and relatively relieved._

"_Was it troubling you so much?" I asked, wonder what thought path her mind had taken. There was no telling how different our worlds where, and so I needed to examine her constantly as if she was completely foreign. She seemed normal enough, but I couldn't assume that we had the same cultures, thoughts of beliefs just because she seemed normal to me. Who knew, right? _

_She nodded in affirmation to my question._

"_Yeah. I was afraid that you guys would think me suspicions and kick me out of the village or interrogate me with torture or something," she murmured as she frowned, looking deep in thought. I blinked in surprise._

"_Interrogate you with torture?" I asked, feeling uneasy. Well, the advisors had wanted to do just that, seeing as she appeared to have come from another dimension, but the hokage had forbidden it._

"_Well, this is a village of ninjas after all. If I step a toe over any lines, especially right now, then I'll be perceived as a threat and eliminated," she stated calmly, seemingly lost in thought, speculating aloud. I frowned at her. She was… too smart. Too smart for her own good. If the advisors found out how intelligent she was, they might do just that. _

"_I suggest you be very careful for the time being," I said softly as I sat next to her on the bed. She blinked as if she was snapping out of a trance. "What?" she asked, her eyes a bit dazed._

"_I suggest you keep how much you catch onto to yourself and play dumb," I stated more bluntly. She frowned at me for a moment before her brow smoothed over and she nodded in agreement._

"_I think your right." She stated softly. She then turned to me, her expression surprised. _

"_But, you already know about that. Does this mean that you are going to leave this out of your report?" she asked softly, looking confused. "Isn't it your job to document everything about me?" I smiled at her my eyes crinkling. "Well, yes your right. I'll be leaving it out of the report, but I will be informing the hokage in private. The Advisors have a tendency to jump the gun, whereas the hokage is a more just judge. Besides, you have not shown any signs or cues of being a ninja, or intelligence worker of any kind. Just smart." She blushed at the last bit of my statement, looking a bit shy. _

"_I see," She said softly before getting up. She then turned and smiled at me. "Hey, Kakashi?"_

"_Hmm?" I hummed. "Thank you." She said softly before leaving. _

_**Flashback ends **_

I sighed as I rinsed the soap from my hair. When I got out of the bathroom I almost immediately ended up bowling over Kumori. She squeaked in surprise when she bounced off my chest and I immediately caught and steadied her.

"Oops, sorry. I got you wet," I murmured, unthinkingly continuing to hold her. Her eyes where large and dazed and I could smell the most intoxicating smell coming off her skin. I… I couldn't move. Before I knew it, she was stuttering apologies and already down the hallway, leaving me slightly dazed. After a moment I shook my head and went into my room to get dressed.

I shifted uncomfortably in the cloths I was now being forced to wear. I had on a black button up that was a bit tight for my taste and a pair of casual pants. I didn't have any cologne seeing as my nose was so sensitive though. I sighed as I tucked my wallet into my back pocket while pulling on my shoes. Where to take her… hmm. Truth be told I didn't a lot of clubs, so our choices where a bit slim. Well, I could take her to the local karaoke bar where I usually went if all else failed or we could go to a random club. Asuma had been nagging me about joining him at the Anbu Rave after all. Hmmm. Maybe that was best.

"You ready?" I asked her as I exited my bed room and walked into the living room. She was sitting on the couch brooding. "Kumori," I called.

"Huh?" she said snapping out of her train of thought. "Oh!" she said as the haze left her eyes, her eyes now gleaming happily. "Yeah, I'm ready." She said with a smile. I nodded before following her to the door and locking up. Time to get a move on.

**Kumori P.O.V.**

As we walked down the dark street I couldn't help but marvel at how different the Village hidden in the leaves was to mine. I had grown up in a relatively medium sized city, and had seen many things, but this place was distinctly different. Its building at times where close together and tall, seeing as they didn't have cars or anything, leaving transportation around the village up to walking or running across roof tops ninja style. If anything, it reminded me of a few pictures I had seen of the market places of Tokyo and Kyoto, in Japan. I had always wanted to go and visit their legendary hot springs, but never got an opportunity to. I had wanted to see more of the Village Hidden in the Leaves though, and had spent the day with Anbu exploring, and getting to know my own cat a bit better than I already had.

Anbu was… well, I had raised him from a tiny kitten, so the fact that he could talk had thrilled and scared me to no end. I had nursed him when he was too small to open his eyes and his ears hadn't even uncurled yet. I watched as his little eyes changed from blue to green, to hazel and finally to gold, and as he finally grew into the gigantic paws he had been born with. I had seen his every little stage from almost the first day of his life and knew his every mood and fancy. I knew he loved milk, disliked staying up past nine, went crazy for feathers and catnip. When I had told Kakashi that I wanted him to meet my baby, I wasn't bluffing. Anbu had always been my little baby to me.

And now he could talk. In a manner, it was very disturbing in a pleasant way. All throughout the day, he told me of all the things I had missed, including a bit about of the chunin exams. (He had managed to eaves drop on a man with a scar across his nose talking to Kakashi, congratulating him and such. It turns out that Sasuke now had something called a curse mark that Kakashi had sealed, Naruto was surprising everybody, and Sakura had done unusually well, though she couldn't continue in the exam.) He showed me where the training grounds where, the best places for hunting game, and the most beautiful water fall I had ever seen. We ended up spending most of the day there, me swimming in the clear water while Anbu lounged on a branch over the water chatting with me. When the sun began to set, we began to head back.

I smiled as I thought about our outing, before taking another look around. The lights that hung over the streets and the light coming from the few businesses that where open at this hour filled the street with a warm, disjointed glow. This little village was lovely, even in the evening time, the air mild, though there was a slight chill that was trying to seep into the air.

"So where are we going?" I asked Kakashi as we walked along. He shrugged.

"To tell the truth, the only club I know of is called the Anbu Rave. Asuma keeps trying to get me to go with him there is how I know about it. As you may have been able to tell, I'm not the most social person in the world." He stated sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head nervously, his visible eye apologetic. I pat him once on the shoulder reassuringly and he continued. "Well, seeing as I don't know where the place was, I thought we would go to Asuma's to find out where it is, and maybe, if it's alright with you, invite him along." I thought about it for a moment before nodding.

"Sounds good," I stated as we continued walking. I didn't really mind the idea of more people coming along.

About fifteen minutes later, (we had been walking, not going ninja running,) we were in front of the apartments where Asuma lived.

"Oih, Asuma!" Kakashi called as he knocked on his door. After a moment the door opened to reveal a mildly dressed up Asuma. The taller joinin blinked in surprise before he smiled around his cigarette.

"Kakashi! What are you doing here all dressed up?" he said as he and Kakashi clasped hands in greeting. "We were wondering if you were busy this evening," Kakashi stated casually. Asuma looked at Kakashi for a moment before he spotted where I was standing, as I fidgeted, feeling a bit shy. These where comrades after all, and I didn't know either of them well enough to be considered even close to a friend. It wasn't my place to invade on their greetings.

"Well hey there. Didn't see you," Asuma called as he put out his hand to give me the same greeting that he had given Kakashi. To my surprise when I took his hand he pulled me into a quick hug, giving me a pat on the back. "Good to see you on your feet again," he stated good naturedly as he pulled back.

"Tha-thanks." I stuttered, surprised but happy with the greeting. I felt myself relaxing a bit at Asuma's friendliness.

"So you managed to drag Kakashi out of the house did you?" Asuma said. I laughed.

"yup."

"Well, I was about to head to the Anbu Rave. You guys still want to hang out?" Asuma said as he grabbed his keys and cut the lights.

"Actually, we were thinking about heading over there as well," Kakashi said. Asuma's eyebrows rose in surprise, before he turned to look at me, this time with unhidden interest.

"Perfect then. Oh, I'm meeting Kuraniah, Guy, Anko and Ibiki over there as well. That alright?" he asked, looking at me. I smiled and nodded as Kakashi did the same. Asuma smiled.

"Great." With that we headed out for the club.

About seven minutes later we found ourselves in front of an old warehouse, the windows painted black.

"We're here," Asuma called over his shoulder as he raised his hand and knocked at the door.

"Is this normal for a night club?" I asked Kakashi a bit nervously as I took in my surroundings. He turned to look at me in surprise.

"Wait, you've never been to a night club?" he sounded a bit incredulous. I crossed my arms, my chin jerking up a couple of inches and I scowled at him, my cheeks turning pink in embarrassment.

"Well, what better time to go. You said we could do whatever I wanted to do this evening, and I've always wanted to go to a club. I just…" I said calmly before trailing off, feeling frustrated, embarrassed, and angry.

"No one ever wanted to go with me when I wanted to go, and I wasn't about to go by myself. It isn't wise to go to those kinds of places alone, especially being young, a female, and small." I said, my voice soft. Just then the door opened, A blast of music bursting forth so loud I nearly leapt a foot into the air. I could see Kakashi flinch in pain. The open door revealed pulsing lights, dancing people, and a woman in an Anbu mask and uniform.

"Well hey there sexy," she purred as she leaned against the door frame of the club, as she eyed one of the men, (I couldn't tell which one since I couldn't see her eyes through the mask.)

"Why hey there," Asuma said, sounding casual. "Looking as lovely as always, my dear." The woman laughed and moved out of the door way.

"Nice to see you again Asuma. Tell the others I said hi," she said as she gestured for us to come in. We filed in, Asuma myself and then Kakashi bringing up the rear.

"Wow," I murmured as I took it all in. There where different colored strobe lights pulsing to the beat of the music and a balcony that encircled the dance floor where people where drinking and having social events. I then felt Kakashi's hands on my elbow. He steered me to follow after Asuma up the stairs to a booth, where Anko, Kuriniah and Guy where.

"There you are!" cried Anko as she raised her sake glass in greeting while the others nodded their heads.

"Well well well, look what the cat dragged in. It seems that you have finally decided to join us, my eternal rival." Said Guy as he struck a dramatic pose. He then jumped up from his seat to point his finger dramatically at Kakashi.

"I CHALLENGE YOU TO A DRINKING-" in one swift movement, Kakashi moved aside pulling me into Guys line of fire. "-CONTEST! …" He stared at me dumbly for a moment before he blinked and looked away, his face turning red. After a moment I smirked evilly, putting my hands on my hips.

"All right, you're on Guy. I still haven't forgiven you for earlier." I stated with a dignified sniff. "But, I get to decide the liquor and the looser has to pay," I said. Guy's spunk came back with a vengeance. "Alright, my lovely lotus blossom, you're on." I blinked in surprise at the smiling Guy as he stuck his nice guy pose, before turning red. He just called me a lovely lotus blossom… oh gosh.

"JUST TO LET YOU KNOW, I'M NOT GOING TO LOSE!" I cried, as I pointed a finger at him, feeling nervous. He just smiled wider.

**Kakashi POV**

I almost felt bad for putting Kumori in the situation she was currently in. Almost. She and Guy where currently putting the table for their competition together, Guy getting the shot glasses while Kumori talked to the bartender. After a moment I sat down beside Asuma.

"That was a dirty move Kakashi," Kurenai scowled as Anko chuckled into her sake glass.

"I think that this is going to be very funny," said Anko as she continued to sip from her glass.

"I agree," murmured Ibiki as he finished his glass. "And they say that I'm a sadist. You know that there is no way she could out drink Guy," he said as he chuckled.

"I don't know…" I said, as I crossed my arms and leaned back into the booth. I was just kidding though. I knew she couldn't out drink Guy, but I would look real bad if it seemed like I pulled her into a contest that she didn't have a chance at winning.

"Any who, they can stop whenever they feel like it," Said Asuma as Anko filled his glass. Then Guy arrived, loaded with glasses.

"Next time it will be us competing, my eternal rival," Said Guy to me as he began counting out the glasses. Kumori then showed up with the bartender with her.

"So, angle of divine beauty, what liquor shall we be competing with?" said Guy as Kumori's face turned red. I could see the occupants of the table look at him funny.

"We have a choice. It's either Vodka or tequila," she said as she sat down across from Guy, next to me. We all stared at her in shock. After a moment of silence Ibiki spoke.

"My dear, you do realize that that is hard liquor, yes?" Kumori nodded, looking mischievous. Guy sighed, looking slightly concerned and hesitant. "Very well. If you are certain lovely creature?" she nodded. "Alright. We'll take the tequila," said Guy as he gave the bartender a thumbs up and a wink. The bartender nodded before leaving to return with the bottle.

"Ready to go down?" asked Kumori as she took a shot glass brimming with golden liquid.

"Oooooh yeah," said Guy. They both nocked back their shot glasses, draining them. After a moment Kumori frowned at her glass. Everyone at the table was watching her carefully, to see what her reaction was. After a moment she finally spoke.

"Is this watered down?" She questioned, looking at us questioningly. We shook our heads. She shrugged before leaning in so that I was the only one who could hear her. "I think the stuff in my world was a lot stronger." She said after a moment before she set the glass upside down on the table. I felt my eyes bug slightly. Oh shit. They where really going to go through with this thing… Fuck. I had been hoping that she would call it quits the moment she downed such a strong liquor. It was a special import from the wind country and tended to knock off anyone's socks after seven shots at most. I turned to look at Guy. His eyes where wide before, (to my surprise,) they filled with a look I had only associated with Rock Lee. He was… proud of her? Ugh. Great.

"Ready?" she said as she began to fill them another set of shots. Guy nodded.

**17 shots later**

"Heheheheheeeeee," said Kumori as she giggled uncontrollably next to me, her head leaned against my shoulder.

"Noooooooo, I'ma sewious!" cried Guy, his words slurred as he tried to filled their glasses. When he was about to spill the tequila Kumori steadied his hand and helped him pour out another set of shots. "All right all right," she said, her voice smooth and pacifying. She knocked back her shot and sighed. You could still tell that she was a bit drunk. Guy picked up his glass before looking at it and starting to cry.

"What is it?" Kumori cried as she grabbed his hand.

"sniffle… well, I don wanna ta dwink anymorrrre…" sniffled Guy. Kumori patted his hand gently before taking his glass and setting it down before Anko who happily drained it.

"Its alright," she said, her tone soothing, her cheeks a bit pink. "In fact, let's go out on the floor and dance instead. Come on everyone," said Kumori as she stood, taking my elbow and pulled. I gave a long suffered sigh before standing.

"You too Asuma; Kurenai, you too Anko. Kakashi, see if you can get Ibiki," Kumori cried happily as she helped Guy out of the booth, draping his arm over her shoulders. It was a bit comical, considering the fact that she was about eight inches shorter than him, her head only coming to his shoulder.

"Does this mean Guy lost the drinking contest?" Said Asuma as he slid out of the booth. I chuckled.

"Time to pay up," I said, holding out my hand to Anko and Kurenai. They both huffed before handing over the change they had bet on Guy winning. I smirked a little before turning to watch Kumori guide Guy onto the floor.

"Ready to get your dance skills on?" she cried over her shoulder to the rest of us. I smiled and shook my head. How either of them where able to stand was beyond me. Soon everyone was dancing before Kumori threw her head back and cried "Yeah tequila makes my clothes off!" through the music. We just laughed as she continued to dance with Guy still on her shoulder. After about an hour Asuma and I came over and got Guy, taking him to our table to pay for the tequila and let him rest. When I got back to the dance floor, I scanned the area, looking for Kumori, frowning when I couldn't find her. I turned back around to find Kumori standing in front of me pouting, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Kakashi, why haven't you danced at all? There are lots of pretty girls out on the floor that would love to dance. " she stated. I shrugged.

"Not really my thing. I don't dance much."i sighed when she looked at me pleadingly. Her straitened hair had gained some of its life back and was now slightly wavy and the tequila had turned her cheeks pink, her eyes bright and her normal speech to mush. She was… sickeningly adorable. I sighed once more, feeling my resolve not to dance crumbling into a puddle around my feet. Apparently she could she that. She took my hand before beaming at me.

"If you don't know how, it's really simple. All you have to do is move to the music. Don't worry about the other people. They are too busy to notice, so don't be embarrassed. And if you want, I'll dance with you. That way you won't feel alone." She stated proudly, as she countered against all the usual reasons why not to dance. I chuckled before she swayed slightly, her eyes sliding shut of their own accords. I immediately pulled her to me, afraid that the alcohol was finally getting to her and she would collapse. She giggled before burying her face in my chest, making my body go ridged before I relaxed.

"Your warm, and you smell nice," she stated as she continued to hold me back, her eyes sliding shut again. I felt my face turn uncharacteristically warm. After a moment, I spoke.

"Well, I guess we should start dancing." She nodded, but made no move to pull away. I rolled my eyes before lifting her slightly off the ground and setting her toes on top of mine. She opened an eye to look at me, before she opened the other. I kept one arm around her waist and placed her hand on my shoulder before taking the other in my other hand. The DJ had switched off the techno and electronic off a minute ago and was playing some tune from across the sea. It was called country, I think and it had been really been catching on. It was late after all, and most of the other people in the club had left. This was slower music though, so people everywhere were slow dancing. Some were smashed, some dancing by themselves, and some wandering around looking for a dance partner. I made sure to steer us away from those people as we swayed softly to the beat. Kumori smiled before she rested her face on my chest again. I shivered at our proximity. We stayed that way for a while. I smirked when I spotted Iruka in the crowd dancing with that pretty blond librarian from the academy. Good for him. I was about time he asked her out. I scanned the crowd, spotting Asuma and Kurenai dancing with each other. I moved us to where we were close enough so I could check on our booth. It seemed Guy was still out of it. After a moment I realized that Ibiki and Anko were missing. I would have to tease them about it later.

After about another hour, Kumori yawned, looking up at me tiredly.

"Kakashi," she murmured, her tone questioning.

"Do you want to go home?" I murmured as we swayed. She nodded, her eyes sliding shut.

"Alright," I murmured, rubbing her back before picking her. I found Asuma and Kurenai easily.

"We're going to go now," I told them. They waved goodbye before Asuma pulled away from Kurenai for a moment to speak in my ear.

"Next time though, you have to tell me how she got you to get out of the house, and happened with Guy." I stiffened before sighing.

"Yeah yeah, whatever." Asuma chuckled before patting my back once and going to Kurenai. Without another look around we left the club.


	5. Chapter 5

Ch. 5

I groaned as I rolled over, my head throbbing as I shied away from the sudden light that filled the room.

"Good, your waking up," said a masculine voice in my ear. I flinched away from it until I realized that it was just Kakashi, and relaxed.

"Try not to talk so loud," I grumbled as I sat up. My ninja cloths landed in my lap and I frowned at the silver haired jonin. He was completely dressed and ready from what I could tell and appeared to be waiting for me.

"Go ahead and get dressed," he said as he stood to leave.

"Wait, if we are going somewhere, I could you to get me some aspirin, and some food because I don't think I can go anywhere without it," I said before giving a moan, cradling my poor head in my hands.

"Those things are next to you on the nightstand," he stated before shutting the door, leaving me to get ready. Oh thank goodness, I thought as I took the aspirin and began to eat the food that Kakashi had made. Ugh. That was the last time I was going to go drinking with Guy.

I took a deep breath as we entered the fade filled street, enjoying the cooled air of early morning. I was feeling a lot better after the pain killers, and was following Kakashi and Anbu to the hospital.

"Tell, you what, I need to pick up a few supplies. Could you two do that while I'm at the hospital?" asked Kakashi as he pulled an errand list and coin purse from his flak jacket. I shrugged, and Anbu dipped his head in confirmation as I held out my hand out for said things.

"Sure, why not I guess. Where should I meet you?" I ask as I turned to head down the street, following my big cat.

"Meet me at the training field in about three to four hours." He said before going inside the hospital. I shrugged and continued down the street after Anbu. I also had my money purse on me as well, so if I spotted anything that wasn't on the list that we would need I could get it. I smiled as we walked through the village streets, going to the herb store, when I heard a woman's scream from above. Anbu growled and I looked up to see a little boy of maybe five tottering on the edge of the four story building next to me. And he fell. My heart jumped into my throat as I prepared to leap, intent on saving him when a flash of orange caught him, landing a few feet from myself. I ran over just as the little boy began to cry. The kid in orange began to pat the little one on the head.

"Now don't do that again! You could have gotten hurt." He scolded gently as we ran up to them.

"Are you alright?" I demanded as I began to look over both kids to see if they had been harmed. The kid in orange blushed at my worry before giving me a thousand watt smile.

"Of course I am lady! I'm going to be Hokage someday, so it'll take more than that to finish me off! Believe it!" he said with a goofy grin and a laugh as he scratched the back of his head, his eyes shutting as he smiled. After a second I realized that he had whisker marking on his cheeks and blond hair.

"Hey! You're Naruto!" I said as I began to coo to the five year old, trying to calm him a bit. Naruto's face fell a bit as he paused his patting.

"So you know who I am?" he grumbled, as if expecting me to take the kid from him and run.

"Yup! You're my new team mate! What are you up to? You looked like you were going somewhere. Were you going to see Kakashi at the hospital or something? " I said happily sending him a big smile. Naruto's jaw dropped, while trying to get the kid in front of me to calm down. After a second he regained his speech, examining Anbu and myself with greater interest.

"You've got a really big cat miss. What's its name?" he murmured in amazement as he held out a hand for Anbu to sniff. Anbu growled softly before sitting, his tail twitching irritably.

"My name is Anbu and I am male." He said in his deep timbre before licking a paw. Naruto gave an "ahhhhh," of amazement before flashing Anbu a smile and giving a small bow of respect.

"Sorry about that Anbu! I've never met a talking cat before, or one quite as large as you, so I'm sorry if I've offended you." Anbu gave a regal nod in acceptance of Naruto's apology, and leaned over to purr for the still sobbing kid. The kid quieted down at the soothing sound, leaning into Anbu for comfort and settled for sucking his thumb as a content and tired look came to his face.

"Oh my gosh! Your alive!" Cried the woman from before, probably the boy's mom as she ran toward her son. She skidded to a stop a foot away, her eyes going cold as she glared at Naruto and Anbu.

"What did you do to my son?" she demanded before snatching him away from Anbu and Naruto's touch. Before either could speak I beat him to it.

"He saved his life, Ms. Ungrateful. If it hadn't been for Naruto, the kid would be dead right now. I don't think that this is how you should talk to the child's savior." I said quietly but sharply. She turned to glare at me.

"Do you know who this is?" she hissed as she pointed to Naruto.

"Yes, I know exactly who-" I stepped in close to whisper the next part in her ear," and what he is." I leaned back out before continuing. "Does that make a difference?" I growled out, starting to lose my temper with the woman. She stared at me for a minute, her face stony before she finally spoke.

"No, I don't suppose it does," she murmured before turning slowly to Naruto and bowing, the child in her arms.

"Thank you for saving my son's life. I am forever in your debt." She said her tone respectful. Naruto stared at her in stunned silence before rubbing the back of his head and smiling, his eyes shutting though I could see his eyes were starting to tear a tiny bit.

"Aww! Don't worry about it! It was nothing." He said as he gave a watery laugh. The lady gave another respectful bow and left. The little crowd we had gained dissipated quickly as Naruto turned to look at me, his eyes watery.

"Thank you for sticking up for me like that, even though you know." He said surprising me.

"I thought you couldn't hear that," I said softly. He shrugged.

"I guessed." After a second he stuck out his hand. "My Name is Naruto Uzamaki." I smiled taking his.

"My Name is Kumori Kenpatsu." He nodded, as we shook hands, looking determined about something.

"Where are we going?" I asked Naruto as we all headed out of the village. After another minute, when we were a good ways in the forest in a small clearing he stopped.

"I wanted to say thank you properly for what you did back there. And I'm trying to run away from Ebisu. He said that he was going to teach me for the month because Kakashi sensei asked him to at the hospital but I told him to get lost and he said he would leave me alone if I could out run and outsmart him." I blinked in surprise and looked at Anbu in confusion. He just licked a paw and bit at a flea.

"What?" I demanded. He nodded his eyes lighting up.

"Yup! I'm going to teach you shadow clone jutsu and a transformation jutsu!" he said, making my eyes go wide.

"You're going to what?" I demanded this time in pure shock before shaking my head.

"I can't accept," I said. "I wasn't doing that to get any favors from you Naruto, and I don't want any, so please don't. You're my team mate, so of course I've got your back," I said, feeling uncomfortable at the idea of letting him teach me a forbidden jutsu. He shook his head starting to look mad.

"Listen, you're the first person to ever stand up for me like that to anyone in this village other than Iruka sensei! And you know about what's inside me too! I have to say thank you, and this is the only way. If I don't, then it would be shameful of me. Believe it!" He stated reaching up to hold onto my shoulders. I thought about it for a minute torn between my discomfort at the situation and not wanting to insult him. Finally I spoke.

"Couldn't you just buy me a bowl of Ramen and we call it even?" I asked, trying to reason with him. He shook his head.

"No, that's not good enough!"

"Let the boy teach you. It would do you some good to learn a jutsu, seeing as you don't know any." Said Anbu, making Naruto's eyes go wide.

"You don't know a single jutsu? How did you get on the team? Oh wow, I'm going to have to teach you everything!" he stated.

"I would suggest sticking with the shadow clone and transformation jutsu little one. It would take her too long to learn it all and Kakashi sent her on an errand. With the clone jutsu she can still train for the transformation jutsu while getting the errands done. By then she will probably be too tired for anything else." I huffed throwing my arms up in the air, seeing that they had ganged up on me.

"All right, fine." I muttered. Naruto spent the next four hours teaching me the basics of genin based jutsus, shadow clones, and a transformation jutsu. After I managed to make two clones in the first hour, I sent them to get the things Kakashi wanted and instructed one to go back to the camp to deliver the items, while other was to releasing itself. While they were busy running errands I continued my training and transformations until noon and then went to Ichiraku Ramen with Naruto.

"Ugh, I'm dead tired," I moaned as I sank into my stool and laid my head on the counter. Anbu had gone hunting for his own meal.

"Two pork ramen old man." Naruto said as he sat down next to me looking very pleased with himself.

"You happy now?" I asked, my head resting on my arms on the counter top. I looked over to see him smiling and laughing his mischievous laugh.

"Sure am!" he said before the man gave us our food.

"Here you go," said the cook with a smile.

"Thanks old man!" Naruto said before readying his chop sticks.

"Dig in," he said to me before doing just that. I slowly picked up a noodle with my chop sticks, feeling more sick than hungry, and took a bite. Hunger seemed to come out of nowhere and I began to down the bowl with unrestrained vigor. I finished and sighed, the edge of my hunger taken care of, though I was still ravenous.

"Another bowl please!" I called to the man behind the counter.

"Coming right up miss," he said as he began to take care of the noodles. I then turned to Naruto who was starting to look a little worried about the bill I was about to rack up.

"Don't worry. I'm paying for myself. I don't know what it is, but suddenly, I'm so hungry I could eat a cow." He seemed to relax a tiny bit and smiled.

"It probably all the training. It'll do that to you at times." He said before digging in again. A man with a scar across his nose, wearing his hair in a ponytail and the normal ninja garb, entered the booth.

"Oh hey Naruto! Didn't see you there. How have you been?" he said as he sat next to the kid, sending me a curious glance at the number of bowls I was starting to rack up.

"Oh, I'm doing good. Hey, Iruka sensei, I want you to meet my new team member!" Naruto said as I sat back with a sigh, finally satisfied. I gave him a lazy grin as my eye lids began to slide shut before I forced them back open.

"Hey there. Nice to meet one of Naruto's sensei's. My name is Kumori Kenpatsu." I said sleepily. My fatigue grew even greater and I nearly fell off the stool as a rush of knowledge filled my mind. My clone had released itself as I had planned for it to and now the other was on its way to deliver the things to Kakashi and Sasuke. I also now knew my way around most of the village and where all the shops where.

"I have to get back. I'm going to drop," I murmured so disorientated that I couldn't see Naruto and Iruka's concerned faces. A second later I fainted.

I groaned as I sat up feeling sore as hell and like I had sunburn. Odd. It was dawn and it appeared that I was at a camp of some sort, Kakashi, a kid, Anbu, and myself sleeping around a dead fire. we seemed to be on the edge of a stone field and a forest, which i had to admit was odd. I yawned and stretched after picking up the pack that my shadow clone had put together for me earlier, and got up, intent on finding a stream to drink form and freshen up in. When I was done with my stretching and had opened my eyes again, I yelp and leaped back in surprise, only to trip on a root to go sprawling. Kakashi just watched me from his place in a tree before dropping down.

"Shoot, you scared the crap out of me," I grumbled as I walked toward him before giving into a yawn.

"A little warning next time would be nice." I said as I stretched again, getting a crick out of my shoulder. He gave a light chuckle, but didn't seem intent on saying anything, meerly watching me with intrest. I cleared my throat, hoping to redirect his attention.

"How did I end up at your camp? The last thing I remember was that I was at Ichiraku Ramen with Naruto, and had just met his old sensei, Iruka." Kakashi came over to lean against the tree closest to me, his hands lazily sliding into his pant pockets.

"So Naruto was the one that taught you the shadow clone jutsu?" he questioned. I nodded.

"Yeah, I tried to change his mind, but he wasn't going to listen to me. He and Anbu seemed pretty intent on me learning it." I said my tone a mild grumble.

"I heard about that. Anbu told me what had happened after your two left." said Kakashi. He hesitated before speaking.

"You probably already know this, but Naruto is usually not treated with kindness from others, and must have found yours very moving. That's why he was being so pigheaded. Any ways, when your clone arrived with the supplies, it released itself. I had no idea what was going on and went looking for you all over the town. I finally spotted you unconscious on Iruka's back as he was being confronted by Anbu. He was very upset to find you like that. Iruka had no idea why you collapsed and it appeared Ebisu had caught up with Naruto and he had to leave. Naruto told Iruka that he didn't know where you lived, and asked him if he could drop you off at his home while he tried to loose Ebisu. I took you from there and brought you back to camp." He stated as I nodded while taking in the information. He then motioned to my pack.

"Where were you going anyways?" he asked, still looking lazy.

"I was going to go freshen up in a stream." I said, not blaming him for asking. He was supposed to keep an eye on me after all and I had been making his job a bit difficult as of late. He pointed over his shoulder.

"There's one that way," he stated before turning back and heading the opposite direction disappearing into the woods. I shrugged and headed the way he had suggested, weaving through the trees until I heard the sound of water. I followed the sound until I found a big stream with a small pool to the side.

When I arrived back at the camp I was immediately assaulted by a barrage of kunai.

"Shadow clone jutsu!" I cried, creating two clones that appeared in front and behind me. They pulled out their own kunai and deflected most of the kunai, though one was hit and released itself with a puff of smoke. I transformed myself into a kunai and my clone threw me into the trees before it was hit and released itself. I waited a minute before releasing my transformation, this time sneaking back toward the camp with stealth. When I was finally close enough to see what was happening I was in a large tree right over top of the camp. There was a kid down there, except he was awake, and looking around as if on high alert. Kakashi came out of the trees and the kid seemed to relax a bit.

"Kakashi sensei, there was an intruder," the kid told him as the silver haired man walked into the camp, pausing before sitting down.

"Was it a female of medium height, dark curly brown hair that came to her waist, and golden brown eyes that was wearing all black and white wrappings on her legs under high boots?" he ask, unperturbed as he threw some wood on the fire and lit it with a fire jutsu. I froze in shock. My hair was to my waist now? I checked it and gasped when I realized it was.

"What the hell? Kakashi! When did my hair get so long?" I demanded as I leapt out of the tree, dodging the kid's kunai as I slowed my decent by sliding the rest of the way holding onto the tree with chakra.

"And you need to stop doing that. It's starting to get on my nerves," I stated as I landed on the ground. The kid, who had to be Sasuke, stared at me with distrustful eyes before speaking.

"Kakashi, who is this? Why is she here?" he demanded. Kakashi paused in his task of cutting meat before continuing, speaking as he did.

"She's the woman that was sleeping before , the one that you asked about." Sasuke paused, frowning at me as if trying to work something out. He probably hadn't recognized me which was why he had attacked me. Kakashi continued to speak.

"As I said, she's here because she is a new member to the team and to the village."

"But what about my training? I thought we left the village so there wouldn't be any distractions from my training. Her being here is only going to undermine that." The kid argued, obviously not pleased with my presence.

"Look, he said deal with it so drop it kid. And where's Anbu? " I murmured, distracted by the fact that the large feline was nowhere to be seen. He glared at me looking like he was about to say something when Kakashi spoke.

"Well, if you will stop arguing and wasting time, I will tell you what I am going to be teaching you Sasuke. And Anbu went hunting." he said. That did the trick. The kid sent me one more glare before sitting down, staring intently at Kakashi.

"We will be spending the entire month training you to do the Chidori." He stated simply. Sasuke's eyes went wide, dark excitement filling his eyes. Shesh, this kid was just a bit creepy.

"The Chidori," he breathed looking deep in thought.

"Yes, the Chidori. There are two parts that you will have to learn though. The first is the focus of chakra into your hand, and the second is a change in nature. You have to have a lightning nature chakra for this to work," I then raised my hand, earning me a glare from Sasuke and Kakashi's attention.

"…yes?"

"How many nature types can a person have, how do you tell what their nature type is, can you combine changes of natures, and do the hand signs themselves have particular elemental influences or can you use the same hand signs for different elemental jutsus?" after a second Kakashi's eye closed in a smile as he spoke.

"Good question. The highest amount of nature types I have heard of so far is four, seeing as we have five elements. And yes, you can combine nature types to form a jutsu. Yes the hand signs do have nature influences, but that does mean that you can't use them for only certain types of jutsus. As for what nature type a person is, you will be using these to find out." Kakashi pulled two slips of paper from his pocket and handed one to Sasuke and myself.

"I already know that Sasuke is probably a lightening type nature. But I would like to check both of you anyway." We nodded.

"What do we need to do?" I asked.

"You need to fill the piece of paper with your chakra and it will react and tell us what types you guys are." Sasuke nodded and focused on his piece of paper. One half turned to ash, the other crinkled up. Kakashi nodded as if confirming a thought.

"What does that mean?" I asked feeling curious.

"It means that he has a fire and lightning nature chakra." I nodded before filling my piece of paper with chakra. One corner turned to ash, one corner got soggy, one corner turned to mud, one corner broke off in a perfect square and the middle crinkled up. I paused, opened my mouth to say something and closed it. There were five different reactions here and five elements. So that meant I had five different chakra natures. Which didn't happen very often. At all. After a second I finally spoke.

"Does this… mean what I think it does?" I murmured, dropping the paper. After a second, Kakashi spoke.

"Yes, it does. I'm not sure how it is possible, but yes. You have all five chakra natures." I lay back and thought for a moment before my face lit up.

"So can I learn the Chidori too? I have Lightning natured chakra and am pretty good at controlling chakra too. Can i?" I could see Kakashi hesitate, looking torn. Sasuke stood up looking furious.

"No, you can't! Kakashi, tell her! This is about my training, not hers! She'll only slow us down."

"Please?" I cried. "I promise I won't slow you guys down or anything, I promise! If I do, you don't have to teach me anymore and I won't nag you about it either, I promise. Please? Can we just try?" I pleaded, looking at Kakashi, my eyes wide and earnest. After a few more second he gave a big sigh.

"All right, but we aren't going to slow down for anything, and if I catch you slacking off, then forget it." I squealed and tackled Kakashi in a hug rendering the man as rigid as a board. Sasuke stomped off looking pissed, hissing rude words under his breath as he disappeared into the trees.

"Thank you thank you thank you! You're the best! When can we start?" I cried as I let him go, totally hyper and ready to begin. He relaxed and gave his signature eye smile.

"After breakfast," he said.

Three days later

** "**Why are you teaching her any of this? She's not in the Chunin exams, and shouldn't even be considered a genin! She doesn't even know more than three jutsu! Send her somewhere else Kakashi! She's only going to slow down my training." Sasuke demanded of Kakashi as the silver haired man sighed staring gloomily into the fire we sat around as sparks flew up into the night sky.

Kakashi had been teaching us how to change the nature of our chakra over the last few days. I was using shadow clones to practice, which meant I got tired a lot faster that Sasuke who thought it was because I was weak or lazy, seeing as I kept them out of sight when I practiced. Kakashi knew I was using them though and didn't complain so I just settled for ignoring Sasuke, though I had to hand it to him; It seemed like the kid wasn't going to give up trying to get rid of me, even if Kakashi told him to drop it several times already and had yelled at him to quit too. My eyes narrowed and Anbu growled at the kid.

"Quite down or I will make you, Cub," Anbu growled at him before shutting his eyes. Sasuke opened his mouth but I cut him off, trying to keep Anbu from mauling him.

"Are you afraid I'm going to learn this stuff faster than you Mr. High-and-Mighty? If I'm so weak, why do you find me a threat? " He turned his dark eyes on me, his eyes speaking of his distaste.

"Shut up. You talk big, but you're all bark and no bite. I bet you couldn't even catch me, much less beat me in a fight." He finally allowed a small smirk at my shocked expression. "In fact, I would like to see you try," he drawled. Anbu opened an eye to see what I would do. Sasuke had gone too far, and was now challenging my authority. Time to show him who was boss.

"Keep out of this Kakashi," I whispered, knowing that his high sense of hearing would let him hear and while Sasuke would not. After a second of thought, he nodded.

I was a blur, disarming Sasuke with ease before he even registered that I had moved. He blinked and looked around for a second before realizing that I was looming behind him where he sat. He flinched and I yanked him up by the back of his neck from where he had been sitting around the camp fire. With a small blast of chakra I knocked him out before he could react, and set him in his sleeping bag. I then lay back enjoying the pleasant night and the stars. After a minute Kakashi spoke.

"You may want to bring your sleeping bag over here, in case he's murderous when he wakes up." I nodded, doing just that while Anbu gave a chuckle. I wouldn't put it past the kid.

**AN: hey guys! my goodness, its been too long! hope you guys liked the chapter, though i had to admit the feel has changed some, making it seem a little akward for not. soon it will flow nicely once more. so i hope you guys stay tuned. Please Reveiw.**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: hey guy! because i have been taking forever to upload my story, i've decided to make it up to you guys with a few chapters. (if you think its too much, i can tone the main characters down a bit, though i had a plan for thier awesome powers.) ^w^ anyway, hope you guys enjoy, and that you for the reveiws. please keep em coming!**

Ch. 6

Kakashi P.O.V.

It was a very long month. With the Chunin exams on the horizon, I had to train Sasuke relentlessly. I trained Kumori just as hard, but in a wider range of things seeing as she was a bit behind as far as her knowledge of jutsu's went. After that incident though, Sasuke gave us no more problems and even lightened up a little when Kumori challenged him to play a few riddle and cypher games.

Flash back

_"YOU!" Kumori roared as she leapt in front of Sasuke, pointing an accusing finger at the boy, her eyes blazing. I readied myself to intervene if they started fighting. Unlike the incident before, Kumori was capable of doing a much greater amount of damage if she so chose. Sasuke glared at her from where he sat on the ground, looking defiant per usual though it lacked his normal energy._

_"What?" he demanded. A mischievous gleam began to sparkle in Kumori's eyes as she pulled out a box._

_"I challenge you to a cypher game." Sasuke blinked in surprise before his expression became one of resignation._

_"We are supposed to be training, not wasting time with a game." Kumori rolled her eyes._

_"And you're out of chakra, remember? Besides this is training for the mind, not a game. Give it a go while you rest, or else you're just wasting your time, and I didn't think that you wanted to do that." Sasuke looked at her for a moment before nodding. Kumori smiled and sat down with him while she began to pull out the pieces._

_15 minutes later_

_"Ah ha!" yelled Sasuke as he moved his piece, checkmating Kumori's king. She just chuckled at the boy's enthusiasm and killed that piece, leaving his king in checkmate. He began to grumble under his breath. After a minute, he smirked and moved his queen to block her queen, making her frown in irritation. They only had their king and queen left on the board. After a minute of dancing around Kumori finally knocked over the board in frustration, much to Sasuke's amusement._

_"Fine, it's a tie." She grumbled as he smirked._

_"You knocked the board over, so I officially won." She scowled him for a second before setting up the board her movement jerky with irritation._

_"Well, I demand a rematch! And this time, I'm bringing out all the ammo. No holding back, even if you are a rooky at this game," she growled. Sasuke's eyes narrowed._

_"Alright. You're on. Prepare yourself." Kumori smirked._

_"You took the words right out of my mouth. Your move."_

Flash back ends

After that, they would play regularly when they were all worn out for the day, and to my surprise even got on joking terms with one another, constantly throwing wit and intelligent remarks at each other with lightning speed. Sasuke began to learn the Chidori with greater speed after that. I had a nagging suspicion that all the intelligence and strategy games, cyphers, and mind twisters had something to do with it. Sometimes I would join in though I usually spent my extra time reading Make out Tactics and Come Come Paradise. Half the jokes they made left me wanting to laugh but I managed to restrain myself most of the time. There were some intelligent remarks though that I didn't appreciate too much though.

Flashback

_I sighed in content in my place in a tree over camp as Sasuke came into camp holding several eggs in his hands. Mmm. It looks like he's going to make breakfast though I wonder where he got the eggs, I pondered before returning to my book reading in the pale morning light. I could hear Kumori moving around as she began to wake up. After a minute, she spoke, her voice sleepy._

_"Sasuke, why do you have eggs?" she asked as she sat in front of him while he began cracking them open in the only skillet we had. It must be the sleep that was fogging her brain. I had noticed that she didn't really start functioning until an hour had passed after she woken up._

_"Why don't you?" he countered._

_"But I do." She stated simply with a sleepy smirk before walking off into the trees to freshen up. Sasuke frowned at me from where he sat in front of the fire as I sat snickering in a tree._

_"I don't get it," he admitted after a minute. I gave another chuckle before speaking._

_"Maybe that's best." After a second, he spoke._

_"Could you explain it to me?" I nearly fell out of the tree I was in. He had never had the talk before his parents passed I was guessing and I wasn't about to give it to him. I cleared my throat, trying to think of a delicate way of putting it without giving too much information._

_"Well, you know babies come from woman, right? Well, all babies come from an egg and a sperm getting together, and the woman carries the eggs in her, where as the man carries the sperm. When you asked her why she didn't have eggs, she was referring to the ones in her body." Sasuke frowned as if he didn't understand._

_"If the egg is inside the woman, then how does the sperm get to the egg?" I could feel my face turning bright red._

_I cleared my throat as I sat down in front of Sasuke and began to leaf through my book, Icha icha until I found all the illustrations I wanted. We were about to have a very awkward conversation._

_Flashback ends_

Anbu spent most of his evenings out hunting or patrolling and his days napping in the shade, though he never paid us any mind. I began teaching them I had to use clones to train them, one to Sasuke and four to Kumori. She absorbed knowledge like a sponge just like me and when she used shadow clones, she learned even faster. One of her clones was taught Chidori while one was taught a basic jutsu while the other was taught a Chunin leveled jutsu, and the final one was taught a jounin level jutsu. Her stamina increasing greatly over the next weeks as well as my own, surprising me quite a bit. My stamina had reached what I thought was my peak of endurance long ago, but apparently not seeing as it was slowly climbing higher each day. Kumori used her clones constantly to gain fighting experience and to practice her jutsu's in real fights, a mix of my own clones and hers. It finally got to the point that we could both have twenty or so clones working on something, and not remotely feel faint or feel sick, but Kumori always slept like the dead at night afterwards and ate like a cow the next day. Sasuke was making great time with the Chidori and would soon begin to add the change of nature to the hand seals and the gathering of chakra. He was making good time, but at some moments, I wondered if it was enough.

**1 day before the Chunin exam**

_Kumori P.O.V._

"Hey Kakashi?" I called over my shoulder as I tended the fire, all of us settling down for the evening.

"Hmm?" I heard him say as he came up behind me. I frowned as I though before speaking.

"Kakashi, I've been working out every day, but I'm not gaining weight or muscle. Why do you think that is?"

"It's probably because you would need a diet of more protein to start gaining muscle mass, and you exercise so much every day, that you burn off your meals." He said. "That and I suspect that your body is turning it directly into chakra seeing as you use so much every day. I suspect that you can start storing it for later if you wanted." I frowned before lying back frowning at the stars.

"I guess," I murmured.

"Hey, how do you store chakra? Could you teach me?" I asked. Kakashi shrugged.

"I suppose. We'll need to find you something that you can store it in though," he said. I frowned at his comment thinking over it for a second before speaking.

"What do you mean by something to store it in?" I questioned. He turned away from me to continue working on his bed roll.

"It means we need to find you a gem or a very dense stone that you can store chakra energy in. the denser and larger the stone, the more chakra you can store. Diamonds are the best for it, even if they are small." He stated.

"Well, could you teach me the technique anyways? I really want to learn it," I said sitting up in interest. After a second he nodded before coming to sit in front of me.

"you don't need to do any hand seals for this to work, you just need to focus very clearly," he said. I nodded, staring at him intently.

"You need to focus the chakra that you want to store into the stone, condensing the chakra into it. Don't try to give the chakra any motion, just store and feed it into the gem. If it helps, imagine that the chakra is a huge network of threads and that you're twisting them tightly together and till they form a tiny little thread. Imagine that you're feeding the thread into the stone and that the stone is swallowing it up. If you want to draw out chakra, imagine that you're pulling a thread loose from the stone and linking it to your body. From there you can draw out what you need as you fight." I nodded as I thought for a minute and gasped when I saw a shooting star. I tried to slip my hands into my pockets only to find that my black zip up dress didn't have any.

"Shoot! Pockets, pockets," I growled before I spotted Kakashi, whose back was now turned to me. "Ah ha!" I cried, before reaching my arms around him and jabbing my hands into his pant pockets. He flinched violently, turning to look at me like I was crazy.

"Kumori, what the hell are you doing?" he demanded his tone strangled. "Shh!" I said my eyes shut as I made my wish.

"Ok," I said as I released him, sitting back as I began to explain. "When I was little, my mom told me that if I ever saw a shooting star, I was to put my hands in my pockets, close my eyes and make a wish, and it would come true. The thing is that whenever I do make a wish on a falling star like that, it does come true. It wasn't out of sight yet, and I didn't have any pocket, so I had to use yours," I said. After a second the silver haired jounin began to laugh, and hard, to my surprise. Sasuke looked at us oddly from his sleeping bag before rolling his eyes and turning over, obviously trying to ignore us, though I could hear him snort under his breath.

"And what did you wish for?" Kakashi said, his tone amused. I blushed.

"You're making fun of me, aren't you?" he shook his head though I could see the barely restrained amusement in his body language.

"No, I'm not. What did you wish for?" he said. I huffed.

"I wished for a-" at that second I heard a high pitched screaming sound from above. I looked up in time to see a giant fire ball overhead. I shrieked grabbed the still cocooned Sasuke and leapt back from the camp, knowing that Kakashi would get out of there just fine. The blast from the impact sent Sasuke and me flying into a tree where we stayed, clinging to each other for dear life. After a second the high air current began to still itself, until it was just a warm gust. I opened my eyes a crack to find the area covered in dust. I coughed before detaching myself from Sasuke's death grip and leapt to the ground, heading toward what was left of our camp, curiosity my main source of courage. In the middle of it, I found a medium sized Meteorite. It was as tall as Sasuke and in the middle of a crater. I carefully climbed into the scar in the earth and headed toward the fallen star. After a second, I performed a shadow clone jutsu and had it perform a jutsu itself; in this case, the Chidori seeing as I had finally gotten it yesterday.

"Chidori!" my clone roared as it raced toward it. I leapt out of the crater and took cover behind a tree as I watched to see what would happen. If this was what I thought it was, then I was about to get my wish and then some.

'_I wish for a diamond or something that will let me store huge amounts of chakra, something that maybe even gather chakra on its own. Oh, that would be so cool. mmm, kakashi is so warm. i wish i didn't have to let him go. Ops! no, no i didn't mean that! sorry sorry, ugh!'_

I felt Kakashi's presence at my back, his chakra a familiar hum in the air as I felt his hand on the small of my back as i blushed. We watched as my clone slammed Chidori into the large stone, and kept it there. Cracks filled with light began to appear and after a few more seconds it cracked into about four good chunks and fell apart with a hiss of steam. My clone gagged and covered its face as it began to poke through the meteorite fragments, making me think that the gas had been either very pungent or poisonous, if not both. After a minute of searching, it returned with the front flap of its skirt full of stones. After it transferred the stones to my skirt it released itself, giving me the rush of knowledge that I was now accustomed to. I cringed as the flavor and feel of the gas leapt out in my memory. It was definitely poisonous. Kakashi looked at the stones with interest before picking one up and turning it in his hand, its hard edges catching the fire light. It looked like an Aurora borealis crystal from my world, only fifty times more beautiful though it was still uncut and raw. Looked like I was going to have to send a clone to go learn how to cut diamonds.

"Did you wish for large diamonds or something?" he asked as he set it back with the rest. I nodded. After a second, he copied my motion before turning away from the camp to go find Sasuke, speaking over his shoulder as we went.

"That's not a diamond; it's much harder and dense then a diamond I think, but it should hold chakra just fine," he said as he leapt up into a tree and retrieved his sleeping bag. After a second of looking around, Sasuke came out of the trees with his sleeping bag over his arm and all our gear.

"I couldn't find anything else. Sorry," he said to me as he shifted from foot to foot, looking very uncomfortable about something before he finally spoke.

"Thank you for getting me out of there. I owe you," he muttered to me, looking a little embarrassed. I just smiled and pat him on the shoulder.

"Hey, don't worry about it. We're a team after all, and a team has each other's backs." I said with a smile before going over to where Kakashi was going through his pack. He handed me a medium sized leather bag and I slid the stones out of the fold of my skirt and into the bag as he held it open for me, drawing it shut when they were all in.

"You need to take care of these and not let anyone know that you have these," he murmured in my ear so quiet that I could barely hear him as he handed them to me. After a second I nodded in agreement before putting it in my pack, pouting when I realized that my bed roll was nowhere to be found, and that was why Sasuke had been apologizing. After a second, Kakashi spoke.

"If you want, you could use mine for the night. I don't think I can sleep anyway."

After a second I nodded before going into the woods for some fire wood. When I returned we made a nice blaze that lit up the clearing. The was a rustle in the bushes and we all leapt to our feet on high alert when Anbu came charging into sight, ears laid back looking alarmed and dangerous.

"What happened? Are you all all right? " he demanded as he came to a halt in front of us, sniffing us all in turn before starting to clean mine and Sasuke's faces in his worry while Kakashi explained what had happened. After another minute, I finally shooed him away, letting Sasuke have Anbu to himself. Sasuke was starting to gain a soft spot for the big cat as Anbu was for him. I had noticed how Anbu was starting to dote on and advise the kid as the month progressed. Hmm. What a long month. As I lay down to get comfortable I frowned and looked at Kakashi.

"Hey, Kakashi? The Chunin exam is tomorrow at ten, isn't it?" I asked as I snuggled into his sleeping bag, his scent washing over me. Mmm, I liked that. He always smelt nice to me, even if he had spent to day training. He gave an "mmhmm," of confirmation before speaking.

"That's right. You guys should get some sleep." I nodded before speaking.

"Hey, I think I'm going to leave early tomorrow so I can watch the exams until you guys get there." I said catching the guys' attention. "And don't be late like you usually are Kakashi, or they will disqualify Sasuke. If they do, you'll both have me to deal with," I said my tone matter of fact. After a second, Kakashi chuckled before nodding.

"Don't worry. It'll be fine," he said his tone teasing, giving me an eye smile when I glared at him.

"All right, but don't say that I didn't warn you," I grumbled before snuggling down into the inviting scent that surrounded me.

"Oh, and in case you're asleep when I wake up, Good luck Sasuke. Knock some heads for me, ok?" I said as I looked to where he and Anbu where lying. He smiled and nodded.

"I will." I sighed in content and settled down to sleep. Tomorrow was the day.

**AN: whooot! time for some action! please review and tell me what you think.**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: hey there guys! hope you like it! please read and review.**

**Dsiclaimer: i don't own Naruto. ...sniffles.**

I turned over in my bedroll groggily as I tried to figure out what had woken me. After a moment I realized that Anbu was sitting next to me, staring at me intently. Ah, so he was waking me up for the day. I pat his flank in thanks as I stood and looked around the camp, taking in the early morning light and the sleeping figures of Kakashi and Sasuke. Well, so much for Kakashi not being able to sleep. I tip-toed over to where he lay and lay the open bed roll beside him before very gently rolling him into it. He just grunted before getting comfortable and sighing in content. I smiled and tip toed over to my pack and out of camp, heading over to the meteorite to look at it in the sunlight.

I did a double take at what I saw. What I had thought was a big rock was actually stone coated metal. Inside the stone was a huge deposit of an odd alloy that I was itching to take home with me. Oh, this was so cool. I frowned as I examined it. Was that my sleeping bag under it? After a second, I shook my head at my silliness. I had a more pressing matter on my mind, such as how to hide the fallen star. I didn't want anyone else finding it and making off with it. After a minute of thought, I performed an earth jutsu that Kakashi had taught me and covered the meteorite, forming another crater right next to where the original had been.

Once I was done I left the camp, heading to the village. I was on the outskirts about a mile away when I felt it. There where large masses of chakra in front of me, and not the normal chakra levels that where from the village, this was much higher. I paused before deciding to continue and act like I hadn't notice a thing, though my senses where on high alert. Something definitely wasn't right though. I made it to the village in good time, seeing as it was seven o'clock. The guards at the gate yawned and waved, causing me to wave back with a smile. When I was in the village I headed to Kakashi's apartment, hoping to freshen up before continuing the day.

I entered through the front door with a sigh as I slid the key back into my pack. I could tell that the place was full of dust and it looked like it could use a good cleaning. I made two shadow clones and sent them to work while I went to the bedroom, plopping down on the bed with a sigh of relief at the feel of a mattress. It was a firm mattress but I loved it. I thought for a minute as I relaxed. Whatever I had felt in the air had something to do with the Chunin exams and this village; that much I could deduce. If anything, we had a lot of foreign ninja in this village, making the village more vulnerable than any other time. In fact, this would be the perfect time to launch an invasion. I rolled over with a jlot as a sudden thought hit me. Hadn't Sasuke been bitten by that Orochimaru guy?

"Oh my gosh! I'm such an idiot!" I cried as it began to come back to me. Even if I hadn't seen more than twenty three episodes of Naruto, the friend of mine that had been getting me into it had told me about one of the main bad guys, Orochimaru and how he was after Sasuke and how he tried to destroy the hidden leaf once during some ninja tests or what not. Ninja tests meaning the Chunin exams.

"Shit I grumbled. After a minute more of brooding I sat up and pulled out the medium leather pouch that was in my gear and emptied all my stones onto the comforter of the bed. I couldn't help but marvel the stones once more as I took in their beauty. Thinking back on what Kakashi had told me about storing energy I began to fill one of the stones, a medium sized flat one, up as much as I could, only stopping when I felt my hands begin to shake. I took a deep breath, a bit irritated with myself at my foolishness while I began to draw some chakra into myself. After a second I stopped, frowning at the stone. Was it my imagination or was there more chakra in the stone then the chakra I had put in? Frowning I began to fill the stone with my chakra again before drawing it out, this time taking all the chakra I had put in there out. There was now a lot more chakra then that I had put in it. I frowned, and repeated the process only to find that each time I repeated it, there was even more chakra even though I wasn't missing any. After a minute I gave up trying to figure out why it gained more chakra every time I filled it and created a dozen shadow clones. They set to work talking and conferring ideas as they filled and drained the energy form the single stone until the energy inside was starting to become very high, though the stone showed no sign of reaching its limit. I left the shadow clones to it and went to take a nice long bath. I was halfway through when my cleaning clones released themselves. Good, the house was all clean now. I dried my hair in the mirror, frowning at the length of my hair. It reached the back of my thighs and had lost about fifty percent of its curl, though it still had some tons of pretty waves and would still go all out curly if I pampered it and my eyes had turned a bright neon gold color. I had mildly given up on cutting it seeing as it grew even faster for a while if I did. After a minute of thought, I shrugged and sheered my hair off at my lower back with a kunai knife. I made a couple of shadow clones and had they layer my hair, making it now reach my mid back in length. I took a look at the clock as my clones and I cleaned up the bathroom. Looked like it had been an hour since I had left the clones to work on the stones. When I went in the bedroom I froze at what I saw. All of my shadow clones where sitting cross legged in a circle, the gems laid out in a circle as well inside of theirs as they sat with their eyes shut and hands linked. I shivered as I felt chakra all around me being pulled into the circle at an amazing rate. So the energy that it was gathering was Natural energy? In that case, I had to tread with caution. When Kakashi had found out that I was starting to learn to pull chakra into my body from other places like a tree or a plant, he cautioned me against the use of natural energy. He spoke of sages and how they were able to pull natural energy into their bodies and how it took years to master the technique without turning to stone.

"What are you guys doing?" I asked the clones as I sat down outside the circle. One turned to talk to me while the others continued working.

"We found that whatever amount of chakra you put in the stone will be doubled. We are sending a loop of chakra through all the stones so that the vast amount from one stone will be doubled when sent to the next. In a minute we will channel the entire amount we have gained into one stone." The clone said, pointing to the one in the middle as my eyes bugged. If what they were saying was true I could blast a mountain to pieces, with what they had gathered. The stone it had pointed to was set on a very odd looking necklace. The chain looked almost see through and seemed to bend the light in a very pretty manner.

"What about the fact that its gathering natural chakra, and what did you guys put it on?" I asked in wonder. The same clone form before spoke.

"We found that the stone seems to filter the natural chakra, making it usable. it only gathers what has been put in it, so we think that it's a balance that keeps the natural energy from overwhelming one's normal chakra. Oh, and we wove a very strong chain of chakra and set the stone in the middle of the weave. It will be all but impossible to loose when we have finished putting it on you." I nodded, understanding exactly where they were coming from. It would be very bad it I lost even one of these stones, seeing as they were invaluable. I would probably have to have a few surgically implanted in my body to keep them safe, or hide or destroy them.

After another minute, all my clones took a breath as one and I could feel the shift in the energy in the room. They slowly opened their eyes and stood up, picking up the necklace. They then worked the chakra thread to where the necklace hung around my neck, the stone hanging in between if not a little below my breasts. They then formed another weave of chakra, this time to loop under my arms and attach to the stone. They connected the loop around my neck and the one under my arms with a strand that went from the nape of my neck to where my bra strap was. As they finished they released themselves and I felt a large flow of knowledge concerning the stones and how they had reacted to some of the experiments that my clones had conducted. There was a piece of information that caught my attention, making me frown. It appeared that they also made me a belt with the some of the smaller stones hidden in it for me to wear today, seeing as we were about to go through a very large battle. I fastened it on before leaving the apartment and locking up, intent on going to the arena. I had some preparation to finish before it was time.

Kakashi P.O.V.

I nodded as I watched Sasuke ran at a bolder, Chidori in his hand before he raised his hand and struck the stone, blasting a hole in it before leaping back.

"Perfect," I called, finally satisfied that he had the form down, as I looked at the sun and frowned. It looked around nine thirty-ish.

"We need to go now," Anbu snarled, looking irritated beyond belief with me. He had been trying to get us to leave for the past thirty minutes but I had told him that Sasuke didn't have a chance of winning if we didn't perfect him form before the exam. Sasuke and I nodded and we took off. He was wearing his new outfit, his hair long from lack of cutting. I had been training Kumori and him so relentlessly, he probably hadn't noticed, with all the training, intelligence games, and trying to get some wreck. As I thought over the past month, I could feel a rush of pride for my students. Sasuke had managed to learn and perfect Chidori in a month, which was no mean feat, and Kumori had managed to catch up for her lack of ninjutsus, and was probably a high leveled Chunin. They were both highly intelligent, and probably geniuses. I would have to get them to take an IQ test for me. I frowned as I thought of Kumori, trying to take stock of what I knew of the girl as I followed Anbu as he leapt with agility through the tree tops, his annoyance with me an almost tangible thing. SI smiled as I thought of the young woman. She had already come to me with taijutsu, the use of shurikens, her silly jokes, and kunai. She had those down, and chakra control came so easily to her, she was able to learn most of the jutsus without difficulty. I was starting to have a suspicion that she had used it in her world whether she knew it or not, except she used it outside her body. It would explain why she was able to pick up on it so well, though I couldn't be sure. She was such a goof with her zoning out and forgetting basic stuff, but rather pleasant to be around for the most part. And kind. I smiled as I thought about how I had woken up to find myself in my sleeping bag. She would unquestionably get along well with the team. She definitely had no problem with my porn book and would sometimes borrow it from me. She was sure to be kind to Naruto, and she knew how to deal with Sasuke. The only question was how she would react to Sakura and vice versa. I frowned as we swung out of the trees and landed in the main road. The sun was at about ten-ish. We had to hurry.

Kumori P.O.V.

The hum of the crowd filled the air as I entered the arena, heading for the stands. I wonder where Naruto is, I thought as I walked through the stands, finally managing to make it past the main throng of people into a less crowded area. I only had a second to register a flash of orange hurtling towards me before I was glomped.

"Nee-san! Where have you been! I haven't seen you in forever! Iruka sensei said that Kakashi sensei and your cat Anbu came and got you! I would have looked for you around town but I had to leave with pervy sage for my training so I could kick some butt in the Chunin exams! It's so good to see you!" Rattled a hyperactive Naruto as he let me go from his hug to smile at me. I gave a huge laugh and a hug in return. **(AN: Nee-san means Big sister in Japanese.) **

"So I'm your big sister?" I asked with a smile, though in truth I was pretty touched. My kid brother had been around his age when I had lost him and had looked just like Naruto, which was probably one of the reasons I was getting a soft spot for him. That and the fact that he was generally a kind but rude person, both traits something I admired. Naruto nodded.

"Mm hmm! Sure are!" he stated with a huge grin.

"Well good. Because you're officially my little brother now," I stated with a smile, really meaning it. If he ever needed me, he would just have to call. Naruto gaped at me.

"Really?" I nodded before laughing at how he was starting to get hyper again. That's when I noticed several people heading towards us. Naruto followed the direction of my eyes before smiling at the people then me as he gave a mischievous laugh.

"Hey guys, I want you to meet Kumori. She's a new member of Team seven. Kumori, this is Shino, Ino, Choji, Sakura and Shikamaru. Sakura is also a member of team seven. Over there is Ten ten, Hinata, Kiba, Akamaru. Rock lee is in the hospital right now." Naruto said as he pointed out everyone in turn from their spots. The ones that saw or heard our conversation nodded in greeting though I could see curiosity in their eyes. I spotted a kid that Naruto hadn't mentioned, speaking to TenTen.

"Whose he?" I asked, frowning when Naruto's face became dark, anger and distaste in his hard blue eyes.

"Neji Hyuga." He growled out. After a second I decided to let it go and smiled at the kids that where closest to me.

"It's very nice to meet all of you." I said with a small smile before Ino spoke.

"Hey, you and Sakura are almost wearing the same thing," she stated in amusement. I looked down mildly startled to find that she was right before I gave and easy laugh.

"I guess I now have the perfect excuse to go shopping for another outfit. This one's about dead as it is," I said, more to myself then anything. I had worn out the dress as it was and it was about ready to rip from all the wear and tear in the last month. After a second I realized that Sakura and Ino where chuckling good humoredly, earning a small smile from me.

"So where are you from?" asked Sakura as I sat down next to her, Ino on her other side as Choji munched on his potato chips. I could feel myself salivating. I hadn't had junk food for weeks.

"Oh, from far away. I think someone screwed up with a jutsu or something because I suddenly appeared in Konoha about a month ago. Since I can't get back we all decided that I might as well call this place home.

""oooo, so your probably from across the sea! I wondered why your hair was curly and your eyes where different! That's cool," Said Sakura, her eyes becoming wistful as she began to daydream about my home. Choji stopped in mid munch with a hard indecisive look in his face. My eyes remained dewy and pleading as I stared at his potato chips. After a second he finally snapped.

"Will your stop staring?" he demanded. I pouted.

"But I haven't had potato chips, chocolate, or any junk food of in kind in a day under a month." I whined. He gasped in repulsion and handed me a bag immediately, which I accepted with a squeal and many "thank you's" before starting to munch on the chips in content.

"Not even ramen?" demanded Naruto. I shook my head and he gasped in revulsion. After a second, someone finally found their voice.

"Then what where you eating?" Ino demanded, looking as if she didn't want to find out.

"Wild game and non-poisonous flora of the area." They all gasped in mild horror.

"But why? Could you not afford to buy food or anything?" asked Sakura, looking sympathetic. I shook my head as I spoke.

"Oh, it's not that. The Hokage sent me to live with Kakashi sensei and I have some starting out money from him, which was very kind of them both. It was because I was busy training." After a second, Sakura spoke.

"Wait a second, does that mean you where training with Kakashi sensei and Sasuke?" she asked. After a second, I nodded my face unreadable. Naruto groaned, looking upset.

"Awwww man! I asked Kakashi sensei to train me, but he said he was just training Sasuke! Then he leaves me with Ero-Sensei! How come you got to train and I didn't?" he grouched. I smiled.

"It's only because the Hokage told him to look after me that he let me go with them. At first he wasn't going to teach me but when I started getting on his nerves, he decided to give me something to do to keep me out of that silver hair of his," I said as I fibbed a little so Naruto wouldn't get mad. He seemed to cheer up a bit.

"Ah, I see." He said. Just then a bell rang.

"Who's going first?" Ino asked as the lineup for the Chunin exams changed. I frowned when I realized that Sasuke had been moved to last. I looked around with growing concern when I realized that Sasuke and Kakashi weren't here.

"Alright! Looks like I'm going first!" Naruto cried, making me crack a smile though I was still looking all around the arena.

"Hey, where are Kakashi and Sasuke?" I asked. The kids shrugged making my face fall as anger and irritation began to sweep over me.

"I told them not to be late but nooooooooooo, they just couldn't listen. Stupid guys. They're going to miss the stupid competition that they spend all month preparing for! Ugh! I knew I shouldn't have left early this morning!" I growled under my breath as I began to tap my foot. After a minute of brooding, I cleared my mind and sighed before smiling at Naruto.

"Oh, I wanted to say thank you for teaching me the shadow clone jutsu. I wouldn't have been able to do half the things I have this month without your help." Naruto gasped in glee, his dark mood fading.

"Really? What did you do?" he asked, looking eager.

"I learned a ton of jutsus, and use them to get things time really fast. You wouldn't believe how much I learned with them. You should try it some time," I said with a little smile. Naruto frowned.

"What do you mean." I thought for a second before patting him on the head.

"I'll tell you later. I wouldn't want to competition to overhear," I stated as another bell rang.

"I guess that's you. Good luck, and make sure to kick some butt out there for me!" I called as he, Shikamaru, and Neji began to move toward the stairs. He waved good bye one last time before disappearing form sight. After about ten more minutes, the bell rang, Naruto and Neji jumping into the arena.

It was time for the Chunin exams to begin.

**AN: whoot! time for the drama! please review! sorry fof the chapter mix up, but i was pressed for time to upload it. **


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Hey there folks! My, I'm seeing a lot of you guys latly. Its making me all warm and fuzzy inside. Well, I hope you guys like it. Please review.**

**Warning! There is a partially nude scene in this chapter, so if you're too young for that stuff, look at the rating and keep it in mind for the rest of the story. You've been warned.**

Ch. 8

I screamed in glee and started jumping up and down along with Sakura when Naruto went flying out of the ground and socked Neji so hand he went flying and wasn't able to get up.

"YEAH! NARUTO! WHOOOOOOOOOOOT!" I screamed as the crowd went wild. The jounin refereeing the match, Genma, checked on Neji before declaring the match.

"And the winner is Naruto!" I could see Naruto's grin from where I was as we all cheered for him. He leapt back into the competitor's box. The referee then called out for the other competitors to come out. A young man wearing all black and purple kabuki face paint stepped out with Shino. The young man then raised his hand after looking at his team leader.

"I forfeit the match." The crowd erupted into boo's and hisses of disappointment.

"Then you are disqualified. Shino will move on to the next match." The referee then called the next contestants.

"Temari vs. Shikamaru." After a few minutes, the kid Shikamaru went flying out of the competitor's box and landed on his back, just staring at the sky with a slightly envious and far off look in his eye as Naruto yelled encouragement and the crowd threw stuff at him.

"Gee, wonder who kicked him out of the box," I said, my tone sarcastic.

"oh, Shikamaru! Come on!" whined Ino. "…Aw he's hopeless!" she cried, as she complained to Choji. He just ignored her. After a few more seconds Shikamaru stood up, dusted himself off and went to where the referee and Temari were waiting.

"Begin!" with that Temari snapped open her fan and began to throw slicing blades of wind at Shikamaru who got out of the way quickly and took cover in the trees. After a few minutes I watched as he set his hands together to from a box and shut his eye. My eyes widened in shock at the action. Wait a second… was he…? I shook my head. No, it was too early to tell, but usually a genius had a habit or something they did when thinking, for example forming a rectangle with ones hands like he was doing right now. I watched him with renewed interest as he finally opened his eyes. He formed a hand seal, sending his shadow toward Temari. She began to dodge and weave away from the oncoming shadow before it stopped, reaching his total range. He melted back into the trees as Temari marked a line in the ground with her fan. And then he began to wait. The crowd was silent for the most part, watching the battle intently. Temari would occasionally yell insults and throw another round of wind blades at him and the trees. After about ten minutes I got bored and stopped paying attention.

"Oh Choji! What's he doing?" Ino demanded. "And could you stop eating for a minute!" she demanded. "That's your team mate out there!"

""He'll be fine, just wait. You'll see. Shikamaru always has a plan." At that my eyes widened and I gave an "Oh!" of surprise seven minutes later as the pieces fit in and his plan became clear. The group looked at me in interest.

"What is it?" demanded Ino. I shook my head.

"He really is a genius." I simply stated with a grin as I leaned back to enjoy the show. If he's got a plan, then he's waiting on purpose. If his power has to do with shadows, then how does time affect shadows? The shadows from the wall behind him are growing longer, which means that his reach must be extending with them. I had also noticed earlier that he had been driving Temari toward the left, where a hole was, from Naruto's battle. I was guessing that he wanted to use the shadows in the hole to his advantage. But he would have to draw her in, into a false sense of security if he wanted to move her toward it without noticing. So he was going to surprise her every step of the way. Once he caught her, what was he planning to do? After a second I spoke.

"Anyone want to make a bet with me?" I called out catching quite a few people's attention. Tenten, and two guards looked over at me with interest from where they sat a few seats away before coming over. A few more people, stranger came over as well, looking interested.

"I bet thirty bucks that he's going to catch her with his shadow technique and forfeit the match." They people interested in betting with me, and Tenten snorted.

"Oh really? You're on. Thirty bucks," she said with a smirk as we shook hands on it. I looked to the strangers.

"Anyone else?" I asked. After a moment I shook seven more hands. Sakura was looking at me with wide eyes.

"If you lose, you're going to owe a total of two hundred and forty bucks," she cried, looking worried. I winked at her.

"I don't usually bet without very just cause." I whispered in her ear with a mischievous grin as I settled back. I patter her on the head softly.

"Don't worry about it. It'll be fine, even if I lose. I don't make bets unless I can pay." I said to her softly as I watched Shikamaru. He would probably make a move soon. About five minutes later his shadow shot toward her and she began to leap to the left when it went past the line, scrambling to keep from its reach until it finally stopped. She hadn't noticed that she was being herded, or that there was a floating 'thing' in the air. After a second I noticed that it was Shikamaru's jacket with a kunai as the weight at the bottom as it sailed closer to Temari as Ino, Sakura and I cheered for him. His shadow shot out and connected to the shadow made from the jacket. She leapt away, right in between the two holes in the ground. My grin was huge as he shot his shadow toward her.

"Ha!" I'm outside your range she called. That's when the shadows in the hole behind her began to move. She gasped when she couldn't move.

"What? How?" she demanded. Shikamaru shrugged, making her shrug.

"Since you want to know, I'll let you see," he said, turning his head, making Temari turn her head in turn, letting her see the shadows coming out of the hole behind her. Her eyes widened. She now understood that he had planned the whole thing. Shikamaru began to walk toward her, making her walk towards him. When they were a few feet apart he raised his hand, Temari mimicking him.

"Yes?" said Genma.

"I would like to forfeit the match."

"WHAT?" roared Ino, Tenten, and everyone else I had made a bet with, the crowd going wild in their distaste.

"What?" yelled Naruto, so loud I could hear him from where I was. I smirked at the stranger and Tenten.

"Time to pay up." I said with a smirk. The group scowled as they all fished out their wallets. I watched as Naruto leapt out of the competitors' box to yell at Shikamaru, making me roll my eyes at his silliness, a slight grin on my face. Silly boy. After everyone had paid me, one finally spoke.

"How did you know? How did you know that he was going to do that?" he asked. After a second, I recognized him as one of the main gate guards. The other one was also a gate guard. I shrugged.

"I'm good at making lucky guesses." I said with a smile. Sakura's eyebrows rose in disbelief.

"Well, alright then. What about a lucky guess on the next fight?" the one with the hair covering one eye asked. Just then, one of the shadow clones I had sent to be a perimeter guard for the village perimeter released itself and I was flooded with memories on blood, pain and knowledge. It was almost time.

"Are you alright?" asked the other guard, looking concerned. I swallowed, though my face felt pale and forced a smile.

"Well, if Sasuke even get here on time, then I bet that they won't get to finish their fight." I stated before turning to Sakura.

"I have to go. Please tell Naruto that I was here myself for the entire fight, " I said before the guard caught my arm, a look of absolut seriousness on his face.

"How much are you willing to bet?"" he questioned softly.

"A hundred bucks." With that he let me go. I performed a shadow jutsu, making sure that it appeared under the seats, not out in the open. The gurads eyes widened a millimeter as if understanding that a clone had sent me a message or had been forced to release itself. I then make it look like I had dropped something on accident and got down, transforming myself into a bouncy ball. My clone picked me up and frowned at me before casually tossing me over its shoulder, bouncing me off a wall and down a flight of steps, past a couple of Anbu guards. Good. So they knew that something was up.

When I was at the base of the stairs I nearly cursed. I wasn't going to bounce or roll any further, and I was still in sight of the Anbu guards. Just then Might guy and a young man in crutches happened by, walking through the doorway that led outside.

"Look Guy sensei. A ball," said the boy, who I identified as Rock Lee. Oh gosh, poor kid.

"So it is Lee," said Might Guy as he picked me up. The instant he did, he froze and I knew that he could tell I wasn't a ball. He tossed me as hard as he could the way he had just come, outside, sending me shooting through the air at deadly speeds.

"Oh shit," I gasped as I released my transformation. I twisted trying to stop my crazy trip through the air when a protruding tree limb barely missed me, instead ripping open the front chest part of my dress and through my bra. I grabbed onto the next tree limb, filling it and my arms with chakra so it wouldn't break under the strain even though it was a fairly thick branch. Guy stared at me in all my bare chested glory as I hung onto the limb, my furry rising, but unable to do anything. I let go of the branch, his eyes following every giggle of my breasts as I landed. As I hid behind a tree I watched as he was slammed back into a wall at the strength of his nose bleed and fainted, much to Rock Lee's horror, who thankfully, hadn't seen me. After I was sure that no one was looking I turned around only to slam into a wall of hard muscular flesh. I gasped and my arms came off my chest when I felt myself falling backwards, only far Kakashi to catch my arms, making me unable to cover myself. I could feel my entire face flush red as he stared at my chest in shock, his face turning red before examining me with interest. I tried to slap him only for him to catch my wrist carefully. He then transferred both my wrist to one hand and unzipped his jounin vest making my eyes go wide. He wouldn't. he wouldn't, oh he wouldn't, I thought franticly with fearful eyes as he took it off, making sure to hold my wrists the entire time. He slipped one of my arms through, then the other and zipped it shut. I wasn't sure of what to say, having been exposed like that to the man that was my team leader and whose house I had been staying in. I turned brilliant red and took off for a clothing store with the money I had just won from the bets. I could feel hi close behind, though he didn't say anything. I guess he didn't know what to say either.

Kakashi P.O.V.

We had to fly like the wind to get to the stadium on time, but we somehow managed. Kumori was bound to give us hell for this. As the crowd cheered and Sasuke's opponent began to enter the arena, Sasuke spoke.

"She's going to give us hell for this," he muttered to me. I gave a full laugh and left the arena, going to where Sakura and her friends where. For some reason Sakura and her friends looked a bit relieved when they saw me making me frown.

"Kakashi sensei, there you are." Said Sakura. Kumori just nodded to me, looking preoccupied and worried.

"Kakashi sensei! You've got to call off the match with Garra and Sasuke!" cried Naruto, looking shaken and white as he ran to me. I frowned at him.

"Naruto, what are you talking about?"

"That Garra kid is crazy, and these no way Sasuke can beat him, you've got to call it off," he cried, looking determined and authoritative.

"Shut up and watch nauro," I said, not in the mood for the boys antics. Something wasn't right and I was tense, waiting.

"Guy sensei!" came Rock lee's wail. I created a shadow clone to watch the match and immediately when to check it out myself. The atmosphere is so tense I'm about ready to snap, I thought as I ghosted down the steps as fast as you could blink to find Guys passed out, with a huge nosebleed and a smile on his face. I frowned and looked through one of the windows that were in the side of the stairway.

"I've got it. You stay here," I said to an Anbu Black op as I leapt out of the window and into the trees right outside. I had seen a black flutter of fabric, and there was a piece handing on a limb outside. I landed behind the person that was hiding just as they turned around with lightning speed and slammed into my chest, gasping in shock, their arms going out automatically to stop their fall. Unthinkingly I caught her arms, my grip on them tightening thoughtlessly at the sight before me. Kumori was bright red in the face, the front of her dress ripped through, revealing some of the most beautiful breast I had ever seem. Desire hit me like a freight train and it was a couple of seconds before I realized that one of the crystals from earlier was at the base of her breasts. It glistened in the dim light, casting the most delicious shades of light over her skin. I examined what she had used to bind it to her, only to realize that it was chakra. hmm. Interesting. She tried to slap me, her expression furious as I caught her wrist gently. She would definitely run if I let her go. I took my flak jacket off, frowning when she became uneasy, her shoulders tensing in anxiety as her eyes widened, the fear and uncertainty shining through. Does she think I'm going to try and rape her, I thought in mild disgust. But then again, she had only known me for a month and maybe the men in her world where low life bastards, so I shouldn't get mad. I slid the Flak jacket on her, and she relaxed, still looking furious, but more embarrassed than anything. And took off like a bat out of hell. I sighed and followed her.

I sat silently outside her changing stall as she tried on another ninja outfit. The one she had been wearing was a little showy. She came out, looked at herself in the mirror and nodded, heading to the cashier, to pay while wearing the cloths. She was wearing her white wrappings around her chest, a black pair of tights that had fishnets the last three inches and came to about five inches above her knee. She was wearing metal plated fingerless gloves like mine, that where black, and a tie on dress overtop. It was a deep v neck, and open on the sides like her last dress, and it was the same length of her tights. She had on golden bands on both her upper arms and ones of leather on her legs below her knees, and regular black ninja shoes. I frowned as we left the store. That had cost her a hundred and thirty dollars for everything.

"How where you able to pay for that?" I asked. She looked at me sharply before leaping into the air. I followed her easily as she made her way towards the village gates.

"I won a large bet." My eyebrows rose before I frowned at her.

"You shouldn't bet. You could easily get into trouble that way," I lectured as she rolled her eyes, a tiny smile breaking through despite the lingering awkwardness.

"It not really all that much of a gamble if your positive it's going to happen though," she said, looking amused as she thought.

"And what did you bet on?" I asked.

"I bet that Shikamaru would catch the girl Temari, but that he would forfeit the match." I frowned.

"When did you make this bet? At what stage of the battle?" she frowned, thinking.

"I made the bet a few move into the match after Choji told Ino not to worry, and that Shikamaru always had a plan. I had suspected that he was a genius when he had done that hand thing he does, and when I noticed he was getting the girl to go a certain direction after his first attack. When Choji confirmed it, I was able to guess his main plan. I then reckoned that because of his lack of both motivation and chakra that he wouldn't be able to keep up the shadow technique for long and would forfeit after he caught her, seeing it pointless to fight if he had nothing left." I smiled though she probably couldn't tell.

"I think I'll enter you in the next Chunin exam," I said as we landed on road right in front of the gate. "And I want to play a game when we get the chance," I said. It wasn't a game really but an IQ test. She would probably figure that out during it though. She smiled over her shoulder to me before closing her eyes. She sagged for a moment and I caught her before she straitened. She didn't speak for a minute and finally shook her head.

"I released all my shadow clones that I was having keep an eye on the perimeter. My other clones have already evacuated all the citizens and civilians, and the Anbu have been left intelligence reports on the enemies' whereabouts." After a second of looking at me, she spoke.

"Please don't mention it to anyone. I had the clones use transformation jutsus so people wouldn't be able to recognize me." After a second, I spoke, my tone serious.

"How are you able to make so many clones? Your making as many as Naruto, and its only because he's a jinjuriki that he's able to do that, which is why he's left alone about it. You on the other hand are not." She hesitated before speaking.

"It's the stones. When I put energy into them, the amount that was put in them doubled. I set my clones to it and they figured out that the stones where gathering natural energy. We came to the conclusion that the stones filtered it though, which is why I haven't turned to stone. Also, they learned that if they transferred all the energy from one stone to another, that it would double the energy." My eyes widened Kumori's expression grim. If anyone found out about this, there would be so many people trying to steal it, we would probably have to destroy the gems to keep them from falling into the wrong hands. I frowned as I thought. Unless… unless she was the only one that could use the stones. Then no one would bother her about it.

"May I see a stone please?" I asked. She nodded and took off her belt, handing to me. After a moment I realized that the stones where on the inside. Clever girl. I filled one stone with chakra and frowned. It wasn't gathering any extra energy. I pulled the chakra out and tried again. There was an almost indiscernible rise in chakra. I frowned while I thought, as Kumori made a large number of clones, calling out instructions before sending them off. It hit me and I began to laugh. She turned to look at me a bit oddly.

"Are you alright?" she asked as she came over. I nodded as I handed her back her belt.

"I know why its gathering so much energy now." I said with a smirk, though she probably couldn't tell because of my mask. Her eyes widened and she looked at me with interest.

"It's not the stones that gather the natural energy. It's you. You could gather natural energy with any stone I think, though I think that there's something about those gems that doubles the amounts. When I tried to gather energy I only gathered the tiniest bit, and I think I know why. I only have one chakra nature, so I'm only gathering lightning chakra. Even then it's only a little amount because there are other chakras in the way, holding it back. You have no resistance because of your chakra natures and can gather all kinds at once." her eyes widened and she gaped at me.

"Why didn't I think of that?" she demanded before grinning at me.

"I'm impressed Kakashi. Your remarkably intelligent." I could feel my face flushing from the compliment. After a second her face fell and she began to run up a wall. I followed her, like she knew I would.

"Do you know any super powerful jutsus that you know but don't dare perform because the amount of energy would kill you otherwise?" she questioned quietly. I nodded.

"Good. Use this." She said as she took off her leather belt and handed it to me. "I'm going to put a lot of energy in here so that you can take care of the big fry while I take out all the small fry," she said as she began to fill the belt, her brow furrowed in concentration. After a minute there was a huge explosion and a giant snake with three heads and a veil around its neck that was as gigantic as the huge walls that surrounded Konoha appeared a bit to our left and a mile away, though it seemed like it was right in our faces. Kumori barely flinched, opening her eyes when she was finished.

"I'll take care of that one over there," she said, pointing to the left at another snake that had just appeared, that looked just like the one in front of us. She took off as I began performing hand seals. I knew just what this called for.

Kumori P.O.V.

I roared as I landed on the snake's flank, too high on its neck for it to bite me as I held on with chakra. What to do, what to do, think! I commanded myself mentally before giving a yell of frustration. Shit, how was I supposed to take this thing out? I couldn't perform any super powerful jutsus like Kakashi, only a few jounin jutsus and Chidori but they probably wouldn't do anything but piss it off. Wait a second, I was good at gathering energy.

With that thought I imagined that I was gathering all the chakra in the snake into the stone that was a little above my solar plexus. The snake swayed dizzily as life began to leave its body and it slowly began to tip over as it went unconscious. I hadn't killed it, but it wouldn't be of any use as a summon for a while. I leapt off the snake with a blast of chakra and landed on the main wall as it disappeared with a puff of smoke. A gigantic bolt of lightning struck the snake that Kakashi had been dealing with, and incinerated its head clean off. I ran over past Kakashi heading for the final snake that was about fifty yards from the wall. I leapt on it, automatically drawing the energy out of it with alarming speed, the stone on me gathering it easily, though it was starting to get a bit warm with how much that was in it. The snake disappeared with a puff of smoke and a chain caught me around the waist as I began to fall. I twisted to where I would land on my feet as I swung toward the wall. When I landed I ran up it using chakra on my feet, untying the chain when I reached the top, and handed it back to Kakashi with a nod of thanks. I motioned to the belt.

"You can borrow that for the rest of the battle if you like." I said. He shook his head and removed it from his waist with a smile.

"Thanks, but it's not my style." I shrugged before an enemy ninja attacked. Looked like it was time to go to work.

**AN: Mwahahaa! Hope you guys liked it. Please review.**


	9. Chapter 9

**AN:Hey there folks! again, i would like to apologize about the chapter mix up from earlier, and say thank you for the reviews. they really make my day! (i think this chapter will make up for the mix up though.) *wink wink, hint hint* Please review.**

**Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN NARUTO! There, i said it! you happy? * sobbsT**

I sighed as I collapsed on my bed. Kakashi collapsed on his pallet on the floor and there we lay for a little while. It had been a trying day, though things went a lot more smoothly then I had originally expected. I only had a little energy left in the stones, which I used to ease some of Kakashi and mine aches. The hospital had patched us both up rather nicely and had been thrilled when I gave them most of what was left of the energy I had gathered to heal the wounded. We still had some natural healing left to do though and where to check back in tomorrow.

"I'm so tired," I groaned. "My body is sore. Ugh. What about you?" Kakashi grunted in reply, his voice muffled by the fact that he was face first in a pillow. I sighed getting comfortable when there was a loud pounding noise coming from the front of the house. Kakashi groaned, obviously not wanting to answer it.

"I'll get it," I mumbled before forcing myself up. Kakashi moaned and got up as well.

"We'll both get it," he grumbled, looking haggard as he opened the door. It was Might Guy. The man shifted from foot to foot as I glared at him with distaste.

"I came over to check up on you two and to apologize for what I saw earlier today and for throwing you Miss Kumori." He mumbled, looking completely abashed. I softened a little when he didn't call me lotus blossom or another pet name, smiling a little at the sincerity of his apology.

"Apology accepted. Besides it was an accident, and you didn't know who it was when you threw the ball, right?" I asked.

"No, I didn't know." He stated. Just then I heard the fall of footsteps and Naruto zoomed into sight.

"Nee-chan!" he yelled in joy before leaping to tackle me. Before I could move I felt a firm but gentle arm at my waist pull me quickly out of the way. Naruto sailed past without a second to spare and crashed into the sofa, knocking it over as two more people came running into sight. Kakashi lowered me to the ground gently though he kept his arm around my waist, which was probably best seeing as I was about ready to drop.

"Sensei," called Sakura as she raised her hand. Sasuke didn't say a thing but they came to a halt at the door looking out of breath. Sakura gasped suddenly looking dewy eyed and Kakashi removed his arm from my waist.

"Hey! That was a dirty trick Kakashi sensei! Why'd you do that?" demanded Naruto as he leapt up from the ground looking irritable.

"You were going to crush her," Kakashi argued with a yawn. "Besides, do you think I wanted you to knock over my couch and wreck my living room?" he said.

"I think she's too tired to handle your usual energy right now Naruto," said Sasuke, his tone lacking his usual contempt as he stared moodily off into space. Naruto looked like he was going to say something back but paused when he realized that Kakashi and I were about to collapse.

"You guys are really out of it, aren't you?" said Sakura, with some concern as Naruto and Sasuke began to right the living room with a few snide comments at one another. I nodded, fighting to stay awake.

"Goodness me Kakashi, my eternal rival, what did you guys do today?" asked Guy as all the adults sat down on the sofa. I yawned hugely and beamed at Naruto when he handed me a glass of milk.

"Thank you," I said as pat the spot next to me. Naruto sat down easily enough but when I pat the other spot next to me for Sasuke to sit down in between me and Kakashi, he pursed his lips. Not going to happen. I shrugged. Fine. Be that way. I looked to Sakura and before I could offer her the spot Sasuke sat down. I smiled and offered her the spot next to Naruto. She sat down as I pulled up a blanket for all six of us. Began to pet the children softly on the head as Kakashi recounted some of the things we had done that day though he left out a few things.

"When I left, after getting Sasuke to the exam, I found Guy knock out-"

"Knocked out? By who? Or what? Oh, was it an enemy ninja or something?" asked Naruto.

"By an angel with-" said Guy as he stared at me, hands in front of his chest in the shape of breast before Kakashi cut him off with an attempt to knock out Guys teeth. Being the expert that Guys was in Taijutsu he was, block it but shut up at the action. Sasuke gasped looking grossed out.

"Like from your book Kakashi?" he asked, looking slightly disturbed. Everyone's jaw dropped.

"Are you corrupting young minds Kakashi?" demanded Guy in horror.

"Oh, ewww!" squealed Sakura as she buried her face in Naruto's arm.

"You looked in Kakashi porn book?" demanded Naruto before he shot me a horrified expression.

"Where you naked or something?" he demanded. The side conversations stopped as Sasuke and Sakura gasped at me in shock. Kakashi gave a long suffered sigh and guy got a far off and rather happy look on his face. I was brilliant red.

"Well, when my clone threw me so that I would bounce down the stairs as a bouncy ball, I didn't make it all the way down and Guy happened to pick me up while I was a ball. He knew the moment he touched me, however, that I was not a ball and threw me as hard as he could outside. I undid my transformation as I was flying past some branches. I twisted to get out of the way of some and my… dress ripped in the front," I mumbled. "Apparently it was too much for Guy and I wasn't to where I could cover myself so he fainted and Kakashi came to investigate. When he realized it was me he was a gentleman and let me borrow his flak jacket until I got another pair of ninja cloths," I said, leaving out the part that he had seen me without covering as well. Kakashi nodded naturally taking over where I left off.

"I knew that Kumori wouldn't leave the stadium unless it was something important so I went with her to the village gates. From there she explained that she had gain a very strong link with chakra that allowed her to gather it in great quantities and because of her sensitivity to it, she felt something off that morning and realized it was enemy chakra mounting for the attack today. She had send clones out to spy and evacuate the citizens closest to the village walls, seeing as they would be in the most danger, telling them that it was just a drill but they still needed to follow the new procedure. She made sure that enemy spies wouldn't notice their movement, putting up signs and such, so that they would think that they were gathering for a civic event. From there Kumori gave me some stones that where full of energy, saying that her clones had told her about a major attack from the front, meant to bring down the villages main defense walls." Kakashi had everyone's undivided attention as he paused before continuing.

"The attack was three of Orochimaru's giant snakes, each with three heads." Sakura gasped, looking terrified as she spoke.

"I've read about those. I heard that they are very powerful and hard to kill." She breathed. Kakashi nodded.

"Well, Kumori gave me some stones with a lot of the energy she had gathered so that I would have enough chakra to wipe out a snake."

"What did you do?" breathed Sasuke, looking riveted, like the others.

"He shot its heads off with a bolt of lightning," I said. The kids gawked at Kakashi, awe and worship in their eyes. I smiled a little.

"Kumori managed to defeat the other two, without killing, them by draining them of most of their chakra until they fainted and undid their summoning." Said Kakashi. The kids then turned surprised eyes to me, making me blush. I was hoping that Kakashi wouldn't mention that. I didn't want to be thought of as a leech.

"I heard a rumor that it was you two that stopped the snakes," said Guy, his expression one of awe, "But I thought that they were just jokes and tall tales. Is the rumor that you two save the Hokage true as well?" he asked his tone quiet for Guy. After a moment Kakashi shook his head.

"No, we merely took out one of the men that where creating the barrier that didn't allow the Hokage any help." I opened an eye to look at Kakashi before shutting it. What a fibber. He had kept the guy with the white hair from stabbing the Hokage in the back while I distracted three of the people that had the curse mark that had made the barrier. It took every ounce of skill Kakashi had taught me, and a lot of the energy that I had stored to make it out of that fight alive, though I didn't make it out unscathed. Neither did Kakashi for that matter, though thankfully our wounds had been minor. He had been fighting the second Hokage after all, which was no mean feat. Their battle had been crazy, and all over the place with a speed that I couldn't hope to match just yet. The third Hokage had managed to seal Orochimaru's hands away, but lost a hand when one of the fighters with the curse mark tried to kill him. My fury was so great that I lost it completely and sliced the guy that did it with a whip of chakra without thinking, really pissing him off, making him leave the Hokage alone and come after me. It was then that I got hurt, my back getting sliced by a kunai. In the end, the three got away, but not without a fair share of wounds and a few missing limbs. From there we took out a few small fry and helped carry wounded to the infirmary, and then went to be tended to ourselves.

As the guys continued to talk I paused my petting of the kids on their hair and fell asleep.

Kakashi P.O.V.

I could tell that Kumori was going to fall asleep soon and when she paused her petting of the kids, who were also starting to look like they were going to fall asleep, her head laid back and her breathing became even. I had stopped talking when I noticed this and the other paused as well, to see what had my attention before Guy and Naruto's eyes went wide.

"Wow, Nee-chan's out like a light." Said Naruto as he waved a hand in front of her face. Sakura smacked him shooting him a mild glare. He gave her a sheepish grin and settled back into place as Kumori's soft breathing filled the air.

"How did the others do today? I haven't been able to get any news." I said softly, talking to my team and Guy.

"Kumori's shadow clone dragged me off to fight the enemy before I could go after Garra," grumbled Sasuke, looking slightly irritable.

"How did that go?" I asked, slightly curious.

"It was actually pretty cool. Somehow my strength came back and we did this double Chidori thing, where we both did the Chidori with a group of enemies in between us, and we got them all when the currents connected," he stated with a small smirk on his face. I nodded, feeling mildly pleased at the innovative way they had decided to use the jutsu I had taught them.

"The team and I went after Garra just like you said Kakashi sensei, and we got him, though we didn't kill him or anything," said Naruto proudly as Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Nearly killed us though; If it hadn't been for Shino coming along, and Shikamaru staying behind, we wouldn't have been able to go after Garra." She said. I nodded as I listened. I had figured that Garra was a Jinjuriki which was why I had sent Naruto after him when he fled.

"As for the others, there were no casualties, which we are very fortunate for. Everyone did fine, though we have quite a few wounded. "said Guy as the kids began to settle down, looking like they were going to fall asleep soon. I nodded.

"The Ino-Shika-Cho formation took care of the east and the Inuzuka clan took care of the west. You guys took care of the south before the jounin squad five took over. We didn't really have any conflict in the north, and the little bit there was, was taken care of quickly by the Chunin protection squad five at Hokage mountain. No civilian casualties." I nodded before giving a chuckle.

"It seems that today went very smoothly, wouldn't you agree?" I said to Guy. He smiled and nodded.

"Yes. Oh, they found the Kazekage's body, so we aren't going to call war on Suna." That was good. The last thing we wanted was war. I looked over at my students to find that they were all asleep and sighed a bit irritably and looked at the clock. It was ten pm. I carefully stood and made sure that Sasuke wouldn't fall over before frowning trying to think of what to do.

"I should just kick them out." I stated as I took in their peaceful faces before sighing.

"But your not going to my eternal rival," stated Guy with a good natured grin as he stood carefully as well.

"Do you know where any of them live?" I asked. He shook his head and I sighed. It looked like I was going to have to take them all home myself. I picked up Kumori and carried her down the hall before laying her in the bed as Guy pulled the sheets over her. He frowned when he notice my pallet on the floor.

"You're both sleeping in the same room?" he whispered. I shrugged.

"I might be a pervert, but it's not like I'm going to take advantage of her. She hasn't had a problem with it." After a second Guy huffed irritably and we went back to the living room. I made a shadow clone and had it pick up Sasuke carefully while I picked up Sakura.

"Could you get Naruto? I'll show you where he lives," I said. Guy nodded and picked up the little Jinjuriki before we left. He followed me as my clone zoomed off to take Sasuke home. Naruto lived close by which was why I had him take the kid.

I yawned as I headed back to my apartment, dead tired. I had finished dropping off Sakura at her parents' home and was now heading back via roof top and power lines. It seemed that Anbu was going to stay at Sasuke's because he didn't want to stay at my house, seeing as I had dogs, and it wasn't likely that they would get alone in such a small environment. I closed the door as I walked in and began to strip, feeling a lot better when the flak jacket, shirt and my fishnet undershirt came off. The shoes and leg wrappings where next as I walked into my bedroom. I looked at my chest and arms in the half light. In such lighting the scars that covered my body where thrown into higher definition. I thought about how I had received them before letting it go, moving to my dresser for my usual pajama pants. I slipped them on and climbed into my pallet, thinking on all the battle I had lived though and the friends I had lost. I thought about the horrors of war and the battle I had fought in the third great shinobi war and shuddered, my thoughts turning dark before rolling over, trying to chase away the demons of my mind. Such thoughts where never the right balm before sleep.

Kumori P.O.V.

I sat up groggily as I tried to figure out what had woken me up, looking at the clock. It was a little after midnight. Ugh. Just great. I heard a moan and rustling, and looked over to where Kakashi lay. He was tossing and turning as sweat shone on his skin from the small amount of light there was. He moaned again and threw out an arm at an imaginary enemy while I stared at him in surprise. Was he having a nightmare? I climbed out of bed and knelt beside him from where he lay and very gently, very carefully touched his chest. He tackled me as fast as lightning, his movements blurred, pinning me to the ground his hand drawing back to strike, Chidori raging before he paused. I shuddered and gasped underneath him in minor terror, my body tense as I stared at him with large frightened eyes. Holy cow. He was going to kill me. He let out a shaky breath and got off, releasing Chidori before pulling me to my feet with hesitant gentle hands. I tried not to cringe away from his touch but failed. He didn't sleep with the sharingan covered and I could feel it on me taking in my every movement and expression. The guilt and shame was clear in his eyes as tremors of pent up energy ran through his body.

"I'm very sorry about that," he murmured as I shivered and looked at him in the half light, very aware that he had almost hurt me out of pure accident. I took in his frame, trying to reason with myself as to what to do as I watched his body quiver while he stood before me, uncertainty and tension in his movements. He wasn't sure what to do now, and was probably a bit worried that he had freaked me out, which he had I thought before making up my mind. After a second I moved forward and wrapper my arms around his waist in a uncertain hug. He paused for a second, his toned form tense, before he relaxed and his arms wrapped around me as well, hugging me back tightly. He hesitated for a moment before carefully nuzzling his face into my hair. I held still and let him, making sure to keep my body relaxed though I wanted to tense up at the unusual contact between us. I knew that if I did tense up though, he would pull away. Whatever had gotten to him must have really been something if it had affected the silver haired man. After a few minutes I could heard his heart beat slow down to a normal speed and the tremors stopped, his body starting to relax. He finally released me and I gave him a small smile.

" A little better?" he nodded and sat down on his pallet. I thought about asking him if he wanted to sleep with me the rest of the night, but decided against it. If he asked I would say yes though.

"Want some milk?" I asked. After a second he nodded. I wanted to ask him what had been bothering him, but didn't feel that it was the right time, instead going to the kitchen to get it for him. I paused halfway through when I realized what that had reminded me of. I shuddered at the similarities before shutting the fridge and heading back. The past had a way of haunting you.

_I trembled as I ran through the house, knowing what I was going to find but powerless to change something that had already happened. I wept when I found them, laid out there cold and unmoving in the floor. I could hear someone coming and I ran to hide in the pantry terrified that I was next. The fear was so strong, I could barely breathe. I looked down to find another unmoving body, the blood making the floor slick, my shoes sticking to the floor because of it, making a sucky sound whenever I lifted them. I could feel another wave of horror and nausea come over me as a mix of disgust and denial hit me. I waited breathlessly in my terror before the door opened, revealing a flashing blade and a wicked smile._

_"Found you."_

I sat up screaming bloody murder as I tried to get out of my sheet. I screamed even louder when a person wrapped their arms around me in the dark. I fought as hard as I could, clawing, punching, kicking and scratching, as they spoke.

"Kumori, Kumori! Stop! It's alright! It's just me, its ok." I hesitated, breathing heavily as tears leaked down my face. I recognized this voice.

"Shhh, its ok, everything's ok. Its fine. Don't worry. I'm here." Said Kakashi's soothing voice next to my ear as I felt him tighten his grip round my shoulder pressing my face to his chest. I wrapped my arms around his neck and began to sob. I had never wanted to see that again. He just held me, stoking my hair and patting my back until I had cried myself out. When I was finally tired and slightly calmed down he pulled away slightly before getting up. He hesitated before speaking.

"would you like a glass of milk? And some tissues?" he asked, his tone calming.

"Ok," I whispered with a strained smile as I pulled the messed up covers around me. He returned a minute later with said things and let me clean up before handing me the milk. When I was done he put it on the nightstand and got back in his pallet. After a second, I spoke my voice shy.

"Kakashi?"

"Mmm?"

"… could you… never mind." I mumbled a feeling self-conscious. He sat up as I laid back down with my back to him as shudders ran through me, too uncertain and embarrassed to ask him if he would stay the night with me. I looked up in surprise when I felt him lift the covers, though I could see hesitation in his movement. I blushed and rolled over, moving over to give him room and he slid in behind me, carefully wrapping an arm around my waist as he pulled me to him, to where we were almost chest to chest. He was so tense, I could tell that he was nervous; probably uncertain as to if he should be going that far and worried that i was still warry of him from earlier. I was a bit shy about this but after a second I closed the distance between us and pressed my face to his chest with a sigh, getting comfortable. He relaxed and wrapped the other arm around me, his hold warm and feverish, the feel of his arms around me comforting. After a second he spoke.

"Where you having nightmare because of today?" he whispered. I shook my head and he paused.

"Was today the first time you… killed someone, and that's what's getting you?" I shook my head again before shuddering.

"No, I first took life four years ago, when I was sixteen." I murmured. It had been the same memory that had haunted me this very night.

"What happened?" He asked. I shivered again in response before his grip on me tightened a bit. I snuggled into him, feeling some of my initial terror fade.

"It was the same thing I was reliving tonight in my nightmare," I whispered into his chest. After a second I spoke.

"My stepmother went crazy and killed my father, my little brother, my older sister and tried to kill me." I as I fell silent and he moved back a bit to look at my face. He carefully wiped my tears away before pulling me to his chest again.

"That's what I had been dreaming about; about how I got back to the house and had hidden in the pantry only to find my sister in there. I started the screaming when my step mom found me." His grip tightened and he began to stroke my hair. I began to relax again, comforted by his presence. After a second I decided to ask him something I had wanted to ask before but I hadn't.

"What about you? What was haunting you tonight?" he shuddered slightly and I began to stroke his back. I then realized he was shirtless, but didn't let go. Kakashi was too warm, comforting and smelled nice; he made me feel safe and protected.

"I was dreaming about the fight I lost this eye in," he said as he tapped his left cheek, under the eye that was the sharingan. My eyes widened.

"What happened? You looked really upset." I murmured after a few seconds. He let out a big breath and lay on his back, letting me go. I laid my head carefully on his arm and wrapped my arm around his chest, getting comfortable. He wrapped that arm around my shoulder before letting his hand rest on my waist.

"I was a fool. I was going to leave my team mate behind and finish the mission, but my other team mate Obito, refused to leave her. He tried to get me to change my mind. We had a long spat." I heard him snort and I could tell he was smiling, though his body was tensing again. It was hard to believe that Kakashi would do something like that. He always looked out for his team mates, no matter what.

"He said that he thought my father was a true hero, despite what others had said; that those who didn't follow the rule where dirt, it was true, but those that left their friends where even lower than dirt and left." He fell silent for a moment. After a minute, I spoke.

"What did you do?"

"I followed him a bit later and lost my eye when an enemy ninja snuck up on him. We save Rin, but the ceiling caved in and I still wasn't used to seeing with just one eye. I would have been crushed if Obito hadn't pushed me out of the way." Kakashi swallowed and I could tell he was caught up in the memory, barely aware that I was there. I lay there completely still as I listened, suspecting that he didn't talk about this often, if at all. "He saved my life, and lost his that day. Before he died, he asked Rin to give me his sharingan, as a graduation and birthday present. I thought he was crazy, but he said that way he would be able to see life though my eyes even if he was gone." He murmured his voice so soft, I could barely hear him." I pat him comfortingly on the chest. After a minute he sighed, and I could tell he was as tired as I was.

"Go ahead and go to sleep. I'm here," I murmured. He gave a chuckle before he fell quiet. A few minutes later I drifted off as well, comforted at his companionship.

I sighed, still half asleep and tried to roll over, only for a large muscular arm to garb me by the waist and pull me back. I frowned, and blinked as I was rolled back onto my side at the motion, trying to clear the fog from my sleep addled brain. The fog completely cleared when I felt a strong firm chest press to my back, the skin feverish where my shirt had lifted, pressing skin on skin. And he threw a leg over me, muttering gibberish in his sleep before I felt him nuzzle into my neck, making me gasp and shudder. My neck was one of my big weak spots. I tried to detangle myself from his grip without waking him; It took me about a good seven minutes to do so, but after quickly sliding a pillow in my place, I was able to sneak out of his clingy reach and off the bed. I needed a shower.

Kakashi P.O.V.

I heard a drawer open and I opened my eyes, alerted by the sound to find a towel wearing Kumori going through her clothing drawer. She was facing the wall, which meant she hadn't realized I was up yet, giving me the chance to examine her almost bare body without reserve. She was an interesting girl, to say the least, and I was starting to think of her differently than before. How so, I wasn't sure but when offered with the chance to really look at her, I wasn't going to pass it up. Her skin was damp and warm looking, her hair up in a twist leaving her upper back and shoulder exposed. I realized that she had a scar on the underside of her left upper arm and frowned before continueing with my observation. She was slightly muscular and really beautiful to look at, though I hadn't really noticed before. Her arms, her legs, the slope of her shoulders, her unruly hair; it was all very attractive I realized with slight confusion. I had noticed how pretty her face and hair had been before, but why hadn't I noticed that she was so physically attractive before now? I shook my head and closed my eyes, knowing that she had found what she was looking for and was going to leave the room. I yawned and headed toward the kitchen. I began to make tea and some toast beforeshe walked in, dressed for the day.

"Morning Kakashi."

"Morning. What time is it?" I said as I fixed her a cup with a yawn. She shrugged and sat at the table accepting her cup with thanks before speaking.

"Oh, I'd say about noon; haven't really checked." I nodded and stretched, intent on sitting down. Her eyes followed the movement and she began to examine my torso with interest, something she hadn't done before for whatever reason. Oh, that right I had forgotten to put on a shirt. After a second she finally spoke.

"You've got a lot of scars." I shifted feeling a bit self-conscious of them myself. I really should put on a shirt. I'm too relaxed around her as is, I thought to myself about to move toward the bedroom for said clothing. I stopped when she raised a hand as if to touch me, before paused and looking at me with inquisitive eyes.

"May I?" she asked. After a second I shrugged and she stood from her place the the table before stepped closer, tracing fingertips across one of the scars on my chest. I wanted to shivered under her feather light touch and her scrutiny, but made sure not to. When her eyes found my Anbu tattoo her eyes widened in surprise.

"I never noticed that before," she murmured as she traced it with a finger she then moved to my arms and my hands, then my back, gently tracing and prodding scars she found interesting. After a minute I relaxed, my self-consciousness fading. I knew that I had many scars, and at times felt like others would see them as disfigurements. But she just examined each one with interest. She paused on one that went downward on my left hip.

"How far?" she asked. I frowned at it before speaking.

"About three inches." She nodded before she had a thought, and blushed.

"What?" I asked. She just shook her head.

"No, seriously. What is it? I want to know." I said, stepping in front of her so she would have to look at me. She turned even redder and shook her head, making to leave. I carefully but firmly caught her arms, making sure not to scare her but having no intension of letting herc leave until I got an answer. She paused looking torn before making up her mind and speaking

"Well, I noticed that you haven't had any woman come calling for you, and I thought of another reason the Hokage might have assigned me to live with you." I straightened with a jerk and let her go, slightly surprised at what she was thinking.

"You haven't tried to pull the moves on me or do anything perverted unlike so many men by now and you're a real pervert so…" she trailed off. "I didn't want to mention or ask because that's a very personal question but…" It felt like my face was on fire. After a second I smirked though she probably couldn't tell and began to move forward, making her step back. When she was pressed against the wall, I placed my hands on both sides of her with a bit of unnecessary force and bent down to where my face was level with her blushing hesitant one. I moved my face to where it was an inch from hers as I spoke, my eyes half lidded and my voiced deeper and huskier than usual.

"Do you want to find out?" I rumbled and she shivered slightly. I smirked and moved my face to her neck. Making sure she wouldn't see, I pulled down my mask and began to kiss and suck the skin, making her gasp and quiver.

"No, everything is intact and still in perfect working order." I whispered huskily in her ear before nibbling it, making her gasp and moan. Mmm, she smelled delicious, I thought as I licked my lips in anticipation. After a second I realized that it was her arousal and I quickly slid my mask on and moved back, trying not to notice how red her face was or how her breasts where now pert and straining against her bra, or how her eyes where half lidded in lust. I opened my mouth to apologize but she spoke instead, making me fall quiet.

"Kakashi, if you ever do that again, I will not be held responsible for what happens next," she murmured. My eyes widened. That could be a threat or an invitation, but the meaning to her words where so ambiguous, I wasn't sure how or where to take it. After a second I decided to change the subject.

"What about you? Have any interesting scars?" I asked jokingly as I leaned against the wall she was on, my eyes teasing. She hesitated before nodding, going back to that normal girl I knew.

"Can I see?" I asked. she shrugged.

"I guess. I just have three," she said as she slid her left arm band down so that I could look at the first one. I examined it carefully. It had been made with a clean edge, like a knife and hadn't been deep but it was still rather noticeable.

"Is this from That event?" I asked pointedly. She nodded before lifting her shirt slightly and pulling down her the waistband on her shorts a tad to show me the scar on her hip bone. I examined it carefully to find that it was a large bite mark.

"From the dogs?" I guessed and she nodded again.

"The other scars where taken care of with surgery," she said softly. My eyebrows rose.

"There were more?" I asked softly as I stroked the white slightly puckered skin.

"Yeah, a lot more." She murmured, looking embarrassed. I had the startling urge to kiss the scared skin, to make her feel like there was nothing wrong with her. That wasn't an urge that went with lust, and I was hesitant to examine it further, frowning at the impulse before standing.

"Any more?" I asked. She frowned as she thought.

"Oh, I almost forgot about this one," she said, turning her back to me and lifting her shirt a bit so I could see. I blinked and stroked the pink line that went horizontally at an angle across her upper back about three inches below her bra.

"Is this the one that they were taking care of at the hospital?" She nodded.

"Oh, speaking of hospitals, we need to go in a minute, so I suggest you get ready." I wrinkled my nose in distaste. She frowned at me, probably noticing the way my eyes scrunched up.

"What?"

"I don't like hospitals. At all. in fact, i'm not going." I grumbled. She pursed her lips.

"Kakashi, you need to go there with me, even if you don't like it. We also need to check up on the third Hokage. I want to know if they were able to reattach his hand." After a second I nodded, my mind lost in thought. Yes, she was right, we did have to go.

**AN: tada! Please review if you want more! Mwahahahaaaaa!**


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: hey there folks. heres another chapter. looks like things are going to get intresting again. Also, i will have an explination as to why some chapter are going to start veering away from the origonal story line in the naruto universe at the end of this chapter. Please read and review. :)**

**Discliamer: I do not own Naruto; someone else does. XP**

Ch. 10

"So. You gave him the sex talk?" I asked as we ran through the village, Kakashi leading the way. He stumbled which made my eyes widen while he righted himself. I had never seen the man stumble before, not even when getting slammed in the chest with a kick.

"Um, yeah." He muttered.

"Wow… so how did it go? And when was this?" I said as we picked up the pace again, heading to the hospital.

"It was in training last month, after you made that smart ass comment on you having eggs." I frowned as I tried to recall what he was talking about. He huffed seeing my confusion.

"You woke up and saw Sasuke with some raw eggs. Remember when we had eggs for breakfast the first time?" After a second my eyes widened as I finally recalled what he was talking about.

"Oh! That! Yeah, I remember. What about it?" I asked as we ran over a power line.

"Well, he wanted to know what you were talking about which led to me explaining your joke. Then he wanted to know how, if eggs are inside a woman how they got fertilized. Ergo the sex talk." I nodded in understanding giving a delicate "Ah," as we landed in front of the hospital. I gave a nervous laugh as he shot me a slightly irritable look.

"And he took it badly. In fact to you remember what happened when you got back?" after a second I gasped, slightly shocked.

"That's why he fainted?" Kakashi nodded.

"wow…" after a second I got my game face on, trying to play it cool.

"Ah well, it's better he know now then later. I can't believe he didn't know though. I mean, he's almost thirteen for crying out loud and a ninja too. Aren't ninja supposed to be masters at the art of seduction and sex?" I asked as we walked in and waited for someone to come to the counter. I could tell that Kakashi had on his game face too, if you wanted to call it that. His tone and body language was far too casual not to be forced.

"That's mostly true, though the ninja in our village don't normally resort to those methods unless under very trying circumstances. It's usually only a small group of kunoichi that do that here on a regular basis, and they are generally avoided; the Kunoichi Seven. That's more because they have a tendency to be rather vicious when it comes to other kunoichi, like setting them up, and the men avoid them because they don't want their lady friends, future and past, to become a target of theirs, though sometimes it can't be helped and a fight breaks out. It's usually only with very attractive men that it will get bad though." My eyes widened.

"They sound like a vicious fan club to me," I said still a bit surprised. After a second, Kakashi laughed making me pout at him in annoyance.

"as they would say in your country, you nailed it." He said, his tone amused before he reached over and messed up my hair.

"Hey!" I cried, trying to put it back in order while he laughed at me again.

"Awww, so cute," cooed a woman right behind me, making me whirl around in surprise, having not felt her chakra or a hint of her presence. She was taller than me by six inches and had sleek raven locks that went to her bottom, and was barley wearing any clothing, showing off her drop dead gorgeous figure. She bent over to where her face was level with mine and began to play with some of my stray hair as she smirked at me, her eyes amused and dark with spite.

"You weren't talking about me and my group, now where you Kakashi," she purred though there was an edge of fury in her voice. I remained perfectly still, ready to fight in a moment's notice though I kept my body relaxed. Kakashi just smiled at her, though I could see his hand twitch slightly.

"No, I was talking about another group. I apologize for the confusion," he said cheerfully. The woman straitened gracefully and sashayed over to where she was in front of the silver haired joinin, her motions smooth though I could feel the antagonism rolling off if her.

"Now that I think about it, none of us ladies have ever turned their sights on you; I guess that'll have to remedied. I bet it's the mask that never comes off. Mm, I wonder what your face looks like," she cooed as she reached up to remove his mask. Kakashi stopped her with a smile.

"Sorry, but it never comes off," he said smoothly.

"Aww," she said with a sexy pout flashing him big sad eyes that should have turned him to mush. They definitely worked on me. When she realized that puppy eyes weren't going to work she seemed to become even more ill-tempered at being rejected.

"I see, I guess it only comes off for her, huh?" she snapped and my eyes widened when she glared at me.

Oh, no no, you're mistaken! He and I are just team mates, though he can be a perverted ass at times. We came here to check up on the Hokage and to get our check-ups." I said good naturedly with a nervous smile to her. I wanted to flee from her at that very moment but managed to keep myself from doing so. She looked at Kakashi and me carefully as if making up her mind about something and smirked.

"Whatever you say sweetheart; what-ever you say." With that she swayed down the hall.

"Yikes," I murmured softly when she was long gone. Kakashi let out a tense chuckle and messed up my hair again. When I didn't respond or get mad, he paused, before fixing my hair.

"You ok?" he murmured. I shrugged after a moment, a bit zoned out after talking to that woman. Something about her reminded me of my stepmother which kind of freaked me out. Needless to say I was actually a bit afraid of all women now, other than myself. Women could be a lot scarier than men under the right circumstances, and I had seen those circumstances first hand. The medical ninja for the reception desk arrived and Kakashi spoke with him, but I was still too zoned out to be able to pick up on what they were talking about.

After a second the man nodded and Kakashi took my elbow to guide me as the medic led us to an examination room.

"You stay in here," the medical ninja said before taking Kakashi to another room, though I could tell he was hesitant to leave me alone. I stood there for a minute before blinking, finally coming back down to earth and created a shadow clone.

"Ok, I want you to go check up on the Hokage, alright?" I said. My clone gave me a salute and a nod.

"You got it boss," it said before sneaking out of the room. I lay back on the examination bed getting comfortable, trying not to zone out again. It might take the doctor a while to check up on me.

Kakashi P.O.V.

I shifted uncomfortably as my nurse began filling in my charts, casting a sly look my way every now and then, making me wish I could put my shirt and mask back on.

"Are we done?" I asked impatiently. She just giggled at my discomfort and went back to her paper work. I huffed until I realized that someone other than my nurse was watching me. I leapt out of my examination bed and cast a kunai at the corner of the room with lightning speed. There was a small shriek and a woman fell forward, dropping her genjutsu in her haste to get away from my kunai. She was wearing an over dress like the kind that Kumori liked but she wasn't wearing any under garments to make herself presentable, and her hair was very long and red. Shit. After a second she smirked before melting into the floor with an earth style jutsu, sending me a wink before she was completely gone.

"Hey wait a second! Wait! your examination is not done!" the nurse cried as I quickly pulled my mask and fishnet shirt on, my joinin sweater and flak jacket under my arm before I left the room quickly. The Kunoichi Seven where a group to be reckoned with and I wanted to check up on Kumori after what had just happened. She and I may not be together, but that hadn't ever stopped the Kunoichi Seven in the past. I burst into her examination room to find her covering her chest with her arms as she stared off into space, shirtless though she still had her bra on as the doctor examined her back. They hadn't heard me. I froze when the man began to examine the scar on her hip bone, pulling down the waistband of her pants a bit more then necessary to look at the scar. When his fingertip went across it in a gentle caress, I shut the door with a snap, my eyes blazing as I glared at the shocked man. How dare he try and take advantage of her where she was in no state to voice distaste, I thought darkly. Kumori just blinked but didn't respond other than that, making me worried.

"iIs she all healed?" I demanded. The guys nodded, looking like he wanted to flee the room as I glared at him.

"Good. Now get out," I murmured, my voice as cutting as knives. He left in a flash, leaving me and Kumori alone. She didn't move, merely stared off into space, with her hands limply covering her chest. I pulled her shirt over her head and slipped her arms through, my anxiety mounting when she didn't respond. What was wrong with her?

"Kumori?" I whispered my fear climbing as I took her unresponsive face in my hands. Had she been poisoned? Was this a jutsu that was affecting her? Was this a condition she had? Should I go get a doctor I trusted to check her over again? Was it a drug that bastard had given her?

"Kumori," I said firmly, tilting her head so that her eyes were forced to look into mine. I lifted my forehead protector and examined her with the sharingan. After a second, I breathed a big sigh of relief, satisfied with what I had seen. Her eyes' weren't dilated which meant there wasn't any narcotics or poisons in her system. I couldn't sense any other chakras around her and there weren't any traces of them that I could spot with the sharingan. Her breathing was almost as if she was asleep, and she was relaxed, telling me she wasn't in shock or having a seizure. If I had to make an educated guess, I would say that she was just really deep in thought was all. I gave a chuckle and picked her up bridal style in my arms, feeling relieved as I was about to carry her out of the room, not sure when she would snap out of it. A couple of seconds later she straitened with a jerk, blinking like an owl as she looked around.

"Oh, hi Kakashi," she murmured before yawning and stretching. "What's up? Oh and where is my doctor? I think I zoned out on him." She mumbled, looking a bit guilty. I chuckled, feeling relieved that she was ok.

"Oh, he left," I said carefully before setting her cautiously on her feet. She just nodded as if she had expected no less and spoke.

"My clone just released itself. The Hokage is on the third floor in ward A and doing well considering he lost a limb. The doctors managed to reattach it just fine, but when I talked to him, he said that he was going to have to find a replacement for the next Hokage. That white haired guy Jiryah came in and I had to go then. I don't think they are going to let in any more guests today, so we'll have to come in tomorrow as well," She stated. I nodded and pulled on my jonin sweater as we walked down the hallway, heading for the exit while she held my flak jacket. After a second I reach my hand out expecting her to hand it to me only to realize that she had put it on. She snickered evilly at my one eyed expression as I shook my head in mock horror. It was way too big for her and went to her mid-upper thigh in length, but I had to admit, I liked seeing my clothing on her. When we were outside she finally spoke.

"Can we go this way? And can we walk? I would like to get a good look at the village," she said with a cheeky grin. I lifted a finger.

"Only on one condition."

"What?"

"I get my joinin vest back. Then we can go." She sulked looking irritable.

"Fine," she grumbled, making me smile, though she probably didn't see. She handed it to me and struck a very Guy-ish pose as she pointed the way she wanted to go.

"On ward men!" she cried her voice taking on a grand rich sound before she marched around the corner only to bounce back with a thud, and land flat on her back.

"Ow! Shoot you should watch where you're going," she grumbled as I helped her up before she helped the other person to their feet.

"I'm sorry about that. " said Shikamaru with a tiny grin.

" You're the new member to team seven, Kumori." He said cautiously. Kumori nodded with a small grin.

"Hey you remembered."

"Well, it's kind of hard not to with Naruto blabbing about you all the time." I blinked and frowned. Shikamaru amended his statement.

"Actually, he's only mentioned you twice. He was supper hyper and going on about a super cool jutsu or what not." Kumori nodded, understanding what he meant before speaking.

"Well, it was good to see you again. Just be more careful next time," she said with a real smile, earning a small one from Shikamaru.

"Where are you guys going?" he asked as we began to walk away. I motioned down the street Kumori had wanted to go. He nodded.

"Mind if I tag along?" he asked. Kumori shrugged as I spoke.

"Ah, why not,"

Kumori P.O.V.

When I bumped into Shikamaru, I had been mildly confused. That's because it didn't make any sense for him to be running somewhere, only to want to tag along with the two of us. I thought that before I realized he had something in his hand; a paper that looked like a paper bomb but had different inscriptions on it. I frowned, having no clue as to what it was, but under the impression it was part of the reason that he wanted to tag along.

"Here you go," said the man at the counter as I bought some sweet dumplings, handing Kakashi and Shikamaru a stick each. (AN: the Japanese sweet dumplings, or Anko, are usually put on skewers that hold three, and a sweet glaze is poured over them before they are served.) Shikamaru dug in with a word of thanks as Kakashi move to where no one would see him enjoy his treat. I could tell Shikamaru was watching me closely, but I was too busy looking around to pay any attention to that. I gasped and froze when my eyes alighted on the most beautify Katana I had ever seen. All but drooling I took in its perfect shape and its shimmering edges, my face plastered to the glass, much to the shop keepers irritation. After a second I looked at the price tag and groaned as I felt Kakashi and Shikamaru coming up behind me.

"Yeah they are really expensive," said Shikamaru with an amused expression. I thought hard for a moment. It was a chakra blade, which meant it was specially made to withstand the most brutal of attacks. That was good. It was also specifically made to be used in conjunction with chakra, meaning it was my kind of deal even more. They were made to be filled with chakra to make it even deadlier, though I didn't know how to do that yet. I was well trained to use a katana, so if I also used one with chakra, I would be a deadly opponent indeed. After a second I went in the store and took a closer look at the sword. Kakashi and Shikamaru followed as the shop keeper pulled it out of the window and let me examine it. After a second I spoke.

"Is this full tang?" the shop keeper nodded.

"How was it tempered?"

"with clay." I nodded before pulling out one of my hairs and dropping it over the edge at the tip. It parted easily and fell on both sides of the sword, leaving me grinning.

"Do you have a place where I can try this out?" I asked the shop keeper. He nodded.

"Follow me please." I sheathed the sword once more and followed after him to the back of the shop Shikamaru and Kakashi still following along. The shop keeper opened up a door that led outside, allowing me to view a mini training ground. There were poles of wood and dummies out for people to test the tools on. I looked to Kakashi.

"How do you use a chakra weapon?" the shop keeper looked a bit annoyed that I was going to test out his weaponry without the proper knowledge. Shikamaru just raised and eye brow, but remained silent.

"Fill the sword with your chakra and grind the edges of the chakra together, like you were making a sword edge." I nodded, pulling out the sword and closed my eyes, experimenting with how to get the chakra grinding. After a few minutes I heard someone sigh. Hmm, guess it was time to test this baby out.

Kakashi P.O.V.

When Kumori began to practice her chakra control on the sword I looked sharply at Shikamaru as a buzzing sound, too high for most to hear started up coming from him. I looked down to see he had something in his hand, and my eye brows rose I surprise when I realized that it was a special seal to identify and track specific chakra. They worked by getting some of someone's chakra and putting it in the seal. From there you could track that person to an extent. The closer you were and the stronger their chakra is, the easier it is to find them. You had to be relatively close for it to work though. Which explained why Shikamaru had been running. When he felt the seal begin to react, he must have sped up in fear of losing the trail. After a second I spoke.

"I bet your father gave you that, and you're tracking Kumori. Any particular reason why?" I asked the young prodigy quietly. Shikamaru gave a little smile as Kumori continued her practice, completely ignoring our quiet talking. He wasn't surprised at all that I had caught on.

"Dads part of the Intel corp. When the village was attacked, there was a lot of someone's chakra signature left all over the village. Some of it was on me when I still got home that day." He said. "Dad wanted to know if anything odd had happened and I told him about how I had been using my shadow jutsu to keep the enemy from interfering with Naruto and Sakura's fight. I had run out of the chakra needed to hold the jutsu about a couple of minutes before Asuma sensei got there. I was about to have to release the jutsu when I suddenly felt chakra filling me. It only left a second before Asuma sensei got there. I had no idea what had happened or who had given it to me. He decided to take the rest that was on me and let me find whomever had helped me out." After a second I nodded. It would make sense that the Intel Corp would want to know what had been going on that day. I would have to fill in his dad soon.

"Kumori has a unique ability with chakra, something I think has to do with the fact that she has five chakra natures." I stated very quietly. Shikamaru's eyes widened.

"Naturally or through training?" he asked.

"Naturally. That and she has an usually good grasp over how to control it."

"Hmm," the kid said before the shop keeper yawned. I could see Kumori's lip twitch and she opened her eyes. With an almost lazy swing of her arm she swept her arm with deadly speed at the pole closest to her. I frowned when the sword when through the wood like it wasn't there leaving it perfectly intact. She continued to walk around, lazily but deftly cutting through the wooden practice poles, though there didn't appear to be anything wrong with them. When she got to the thickest pole she paused. The pole itself was about five feet in diameter and two stories high.

"Now just a minute young lady," the shop keeper said, but it was too late. She leapt strait up into the air with a small burst of chakra and when she was level with the top of it, swung downward diagonally. She landed easily before frowning at the top of the pole as she sheathed the sword gracefully. She gave the large pole before her a well-placed kick. The top slid off, her direction. The shop keeper cried out when it fell, plummeting toward Kumori. She merely took a stance and with lightning speed and power sliced the falling piece in two with enough force that the two halves landed on either side of her. The impact shook the ground and the tops of the other wood poles she had cut, fell to the ground with a simultaneous thud. After a second she elegantly straitened from her position and sheathed the sword with practiced poise. The shop keeper was looking with a twinkle in his eye as Shikamaru watched her carefully. After a second, she began to squeal with glee.

"Oh my gosh, I love it! Do you take down payments? It's perfect! Can I make payments and then get it from you when I'm done paying? By the way, who made this?" she chattered, looking so excited, one would have mistaken the girl who wielded the sword and the girl who stood before us with ease. I chuckled as the shop keeper began to speak to her with cheer, though I could tell he wasn't entirely happy about something.

"Oh, the weapons master. And I'm sorry, I don't take down payments dear. It's an all at once venture, even if I've still got the sword in my care. I'm very sorry," he said, looking sad. It was like someone had popped a balloon, the way Kumori's glee left her. She looked at him with sad shocked eyes that made my heart clench. After a second, a blazing determination replaced the melancholy.

"Alright then. That just means I'm going to have to save up!" she said with an evil grin. "Actually, I think I know how I can earn the money!" she said with a crooked grin before returning the sword to the man with a bow.

"Thank you for letting me see the sword sir. I will be back as soon as I can to buy it from you," she said with a grin. The man bowed back and as we left the store, Shikamaru spoke.

"Do you guys want to come over and play shoji? We could play another game too. It's pretty hard though," he said, speaking specifically to Kumori on the last part. Kumori shrugged, though I could tell she was deep in thought. After a second, I smiled.

"Why not? Besides, I need to talk to your dad," I said before we moved down the road. Kumori cast another wistful glance at the katana before following us, having every intention of getting that sword.

Kumori P.O.V.

"Ah ha!" I cried as I killed off Shikamaru's king, winning the game. He gave a long suffered sigh.

"How troublesome," he grumbled. I just smiled and offered him some of the snack his mother had brought out with a sagely nod of agreement. After a second he grinned and took a cherry before I spoke.

"You said you had another game?" I asked. He nodded before getting up.

"Yeah, I'll be back in a minute." With that he went in the house and I yawned, enjoying the even fresh air that was coming out of the woods. I lay back with another yawn, enjoying the sunshine. It was so peaceful out here. The flow of the energy in this area was so smooth and nice, it was making me want to take a nap. After a second I was lulled into the land of sleep.

I woke to the feel of a tongue gently going across my cheek and I mumbled something. I opened an eye to find that it was in fact a deer; A giant male stag with colossal antlers.

"Oh crap!" I whispered, looking around franticly without moving my body. I spotted Shikamaru's dad and Kakashi just inside the house watching me with interest. I had probably only fallen asleep for a couple of minutes, I thought. The sun hadn't moved leaving the time around five in the evening and the stag continued to lick my cheek. I very carefully raised my hand, watching the feel of its chakra like a hawk as I let it see that I was moving. It was wary for a moment before curiosity got to it and it sniffed my hand. I gently and carefully began to scratch its nose and it made an odd sound, leaning into my hand. I slowly sat up and before I could do anything else it set its head in my lap.

"You've got to be kidding me," I murmured as I stroked its head, not wanting to make it mad, seeing as it could spear me to death with its antlers. Shikamaru opened the right behind me and I looked up in relief.

"Help me," I mouthed to him, pointing to the deer. He smiled before the deer looked up, staring into his eyes, the intelligence in them catching my notice. After a moment, the stag got up with a flick of its tail, before gracefully and majestically walking back into the forest. I let a huge sigh of relief out as I lay back onto the porch with a thunk and began to scrub my cheek furiously. I gave another shudder as Shikamaru sat down, and I sat up again, ignoring Kakashi and Shikamaru's dad.

"So, what's this new game," I asked as he opened the box and dumped all the pieces onto the porch.

"Actually it's a one person game, but it's usually pretty cool to watch other people figure out. Still want to play?" he asked. I shrugged.

"Why not?"

Shikamaru's dad invited Kakashi and I over for dinner which was just fine because it let me keep working on my puzzle while they caught up. The point was to create a perfect box with all the pieces that Shikamaru had dumped out. I stopped working on it to eat, making sure to compliment and thank Shikamaru's mom, knowing that she probably hadn't liked the last minute company. After I was done with my meal I helped her clean up and went back to my puzzle, though I had to bring it to the dining room table when it got dark outside, the men chatting as Shikamaru asked me questions.

"Done!" I crowed in triumph before frowning.

"How long would you say that was?" I said.

"Two hours, five minutes and fifty seconds," Kakashi said evenly, letting me understand that this had been a test.

"Ah. I see." I said with a nod before having to stifle a yawn. Kakashi smiled and turned to our hosts.

"Well, it's getting into the evening. I think it best we go home now." He said as he stood, Shikamaru's dad rising to his feet as well to clap him on the shoulder with a smile.

"It was good to have you over. I'll see if I can think of something on that," he said as I stood. I bowed respectfully to Shikamaru's mother and father before flashing a grin.

"Thank you both very much for the meal and the company. It was very pleasant." I said earning a big grin from Shikamaru's mom and an eye roll from the kid. I smiled impertinently at the kid before offering my fist for him to bump.

"That was a very fun game of shoji. Thanks for inviting us," I said. He gave the tiniest grin before her returned my fist bump.

"Except next time we play, I'm going to make sure you go down," he said, his tone level, though his eyes where gleaming. I chuckled darkly.

"You're on. When are we going to have this legendary rematch of untold shoji skills?" Shikamaru had the stifle a laugh and I gave a chuckle.

"Any time, any place." I nodded.

"Very well then."

It was a quiet walk back home, with the dark sky and the song of the insects as a gentle breeze caressed us. It wasn't until we were half way there did I finally speak, breaking the pleasant lull.

"So." Kakashi looked at me without moving his head, seeing as we were walking side by side.

"Mm?"

"How did I do? On the IQ test?" I asked as I looked up for a moment at the stars. I paused when I bumped into Kakashi and realized he had stopped walking and was just looking at me, an odd expression in his eye. I let him and went back to looking at the stars. After a few minutes he spoke.

"Very well. You beat Shikamaru's time by forty minutes." I nodded before giving him a small smile as I looked at him out of the corner of my eye, my head still back to gaze at the stars.

"Well, I'm about eight years older than him. By the time he's my age, he should be able to beat my time easy." I murmured before going back to looking at the stars. I could feel Kakashi's gaze he spoke.

"Do you like star gazing?" he asked.

"Mm hmm," I said as I continued watching them.

"Alright then. Come on," he said before leaping onto a power line.

"Hey," I called as I followed after him, though it was a bit hard to see in the dark. He finally stopped when we were at the training field. It was almost pitch black, the moon a small sliver of light in the sky. He sat in the grass and lay back, patting the spot next to him. I lay down and began to see if I could make any constellations from the stars I was looking at.

"Hey Kakashi?" I said as we watched the night sky, the hum of crickets around us a pleasant sound.

"Mm?"

"Could you sign up team seven for a mission tomorrow?"

"Can't. I'll sign us up one the day after."

"Kay. In that case I'm not going to be around tomorrow. I'm going to be all over the village, just to let you know." After a second I felt Kakashi shrug.

"Alright. Just don't get into any trouble or anything," he said. I nodded.

"Kay."

**PICTURE OF KATANA SCENE: go to deviant art and look up Kumori Kenpatsu. its the third picture that pops up. **

**AN: duh duh duh duuuuuuh! ok! will have another chapter soon. also, things are going to start changing in the story because Kumori's very prescence is altering the course of events in the Naruto universe, starting with the Third Hokage living and there being no casualties from orochimaru's attack. I decided to let the Hokage live because the only reason Itachi came to the leaf village was because he died. Also, the Hokage has decided to let Kumori join the Leaf and in doing so is protecting Kumori from Danzo and the others, and so if he died they would be more likely then not to start taking hostile action against her because she's learning at a scary rate. We couldn't loose having Tsunade for a Hokage though, so the third will become part of the advising counsil. **


	11. Author Note and Preview

**Author Notification:**

**Hey guys! Sorry it has taken so long. Any who, I just wanted to give you guys a heads up. Because of the new chapters in Naruto Shippuden I have decide that the story has gotten too Out of Original Character, (OOC,) and too Mary-Sue, there fore I am rewriting the entire story. I will have the old story on my page, but I'm not going to be updating it unless by some twist of fate I can come up with a way to fix it. I'm very sorry for the inconvenience, but I feel that this new story will be able to be updated more often. Please read it. It will have events from this story, but as for what happens, you'll have to read to find out.**

**It will not be the same as this story. ^_o**

**:( again, I'm very sorry. Thank you for all you're reviews and for reading. I am very grateful.**

**Edit: The new story is now out.**

**Please go to my homepage to find it. It will have the same title (Love is found in the most unlikely of places), but will say REVISED. thank you.**

Story preview

**Ch. 1 To be lost and to be found; the question is which one is worse.**

I looked through my luggage for the fifth time to make sure I had everything, sighing as I checked things off. I was going to be entering the military today. I didn't like guns to be honest. yeah, i know that was random; They where too noisy for my taste. just another thing i was going to have to get over seeing as i was going to be working with them now.

_Hopefully i will be reimbursed when i get to the base_, i thought as i shoved another sock in my bag with a bit more force then needed. I had already been accepted into the Air Force.

I was not looking forward to this, but i did get into the branch i had wanted; the branch that was last to go into the fighting if it came to that. I was lazy at most, but the Air Force looked relatively fun, and i had already gone to JROTC. That and i wanted to stay debt free, and still go to collage.

I would also be an instructor at the base giving Wado ryu lessons and an aviary technician. I was currently a fifth degree Black belt in Wado ryu as well as Jeet Kun do, among other martial art forms. But I still had to pay to practice with sensei. Man, what a drag. And to think I spent more time teaching than him.

"Well, looks like it's time to go," I murmured to my cat who I had in a traveling case. Anbu meowed back at me, expectancy written on his whiskery face. I sighed sadly, weight making my heart heavy as i looked at his little face. this was why i was so glum about having to go today. I was going to have to send my precious baby to stay with my good friend Shane until i got clearance from my commanding officer that i could bring my cat to where ever i had been stationed.

...

I sighed as the radio filled the car with pop music, the window down, letting the moist cool air wash over my face. The sky was misty and overcast, the late summer air starting to show signs of falls coming. I sighed, as I began to drive over a bridge. I hoped Anbu would be ok. Shane was a good guy, but he could be a bit absent minded at times. I looked down for a second to change the radio station. when i looked up there was someone in the road.

"Oh Shit!" i cried as i slammed on the breaks, jerking the steering wheel to the side. Bad move. The bridge was wet and i hydroplaned. I screamed when the front of my car broke through the railing on the bridge.

…

Please read the rest on my homepage. Thank you.


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